Hunting for a Final Answer
by BadLuckKat
Summary: Riley Amell, a human noble born with magical abilities was torn from her home by her own father. She longed to escape the tower and go on adventures like the books she's read during her time in confinement for attempting to escape. Once she's given the ability to leave the tower she is met with new friends, lovers, and good/bad memories made with them that she will never forget.
1. Ch 01 :: Ragged Breath

**Ragged Breath**

 _"Don't let them find me. What if they find me? What'll I do? Please don't let them hear me. Oh, Maker, I think they heard me. I need to stop breathing so loudly. Make it stop. Make them go away―"_

Twigs snapping awoke the woman whose curly brown hair stuck to the side of her face near the small campfire she had built to warm herself for the night. Her delicate fingers brushed away the hair stuck to her full lips as she quietly whispered a small incantation as fire filled the palm of her hand. In one swift movement she was on her feet and ready to fire at the intruder. Once her cold blue eyes met the frightened green ones of a small child, the fire quickly subsided. The boy hid half of his lanky body behind a small birch tree as the woman slowly made her way in his direction causing him to flinch. Stopping in her tracks, she crouched down to reach the boy's height as she held her hands up in a non-threatening manner.

"Do not fret child, I do not intend to bring harm to you or your companion," smiling she nodded her head to the mabari pup that had it's tail between its legs behind the boy. In a friendly tone she continued, "My name is Riley. I've got a campfire, and some rabbit if you're hungry. It's not much but you'll have some food in your belly and a warm place to sleep."

Unease filled the boy's eyes as his hand let go of the treebark as he cautiously reached towards the strange woman. His hand was gingerly taken hold of as he was slowly led to the campfire. His grip tightened as he followed the stranger towards the small campfire she had dug into the ground that wouldn't be as visible from a distance. His hand was lightly squeezed back as she sent a smile of reassurance down to him. Letting go of his hand she squatted down next to the fire as she picked up a rabbit on a stick passing it to the little boy. Hunger filled his eyes as he desperately reached for the rabbit. He let gravity take it's way and plopped down on the ground as his mowed through the tiny rabbit. A smile reached her face as she heard a small wince come from below her.

"I didn't forget you." She laughed as she grabbed another rabbit and set it down in front of the Mabari. He responded with a happy 'yip' before chowing down on the overcooked meat. "Do you have a name, little one?"

The boy stopped mid bite before a lost look made its way into his features. "My mother used to call me Thomas, but that was after―" Tears welled up in the boy's eyes before his grip on the stick holding the rabbit loosened to the point of it almost falling to the ground. He rubbed his eyes roughly not wanting the tears to spill over before he ran a hand through his ragged brown locks that ran down to his shoulders. Half of it up in a mess of a bun tied at the back of his head.

Something caught Riley's eyes as she watched him move his hair around uncovering his ear, but she figured she shouldn't mention it. People who have pointed ears don't like when anyone points out their pointy ears.

"Eat up. I'm sure you're starving, I know your little friend here is." Nodding in the direction of the mabari who had finished his meal and was now curled up in a little ball right up against Riley's leg.

The boy quietly continued eating while she poked around the fire with a stick to focus her mind. The events from the past few days were still fresh, almost as if they had happened yesterday. She sighed causing Thomas to look up from his rabbit and over the the pained look she was wearing on her face.

Curiosity getting the better of him he absently blurted out, "is something the matter with you?"

"No. I―I was just lost in thought. It's not that important anyways. I am sorry if I had worried you, Thomas."

"My real name actually isn't Thomas." Setting the rabbit on his pant leg he drew in a deep breath before mustering up the courage to speak again. "My real name is actually Jaegan. I am also an elf, and I know how humans feel about elves so I was afraid―"

"Afraid that I would kill you without a second thought?" She finished earning a nod from Jaegan. "I am a mage, and have known about my powers since I was only two years of age. I was instantly sent to the mage tower in Ferelden where I was raised by humans and elves alike. Being raised in that environment let me see things from a… different perspective, I guess. So to answer your question, no, I wouldn't have killed you for being an elf."

"Thank you. It was kind of you to let me into your camp willingly without hope for anything profitable in the end."

"You sure know a lot of big words for a little child now don't you."

"I guess you could say my mother was a very, strict teacher. A good one, but very strict."

"I understand how you feel, little one. I know all too well about strict teachers," she sighed letting her head fall back to look up at the clear night sky.

"Did you have a tutor? Are you a noble? What's it like? I've only ever known the forest. What is city life like? What does it feel like to use magic? What is…"

"You sure ask a lot of questions there," she chuckled smiling over at the boy who kind of hid behind his rabbit out of realization of the number of questions he was asking, "but to answer your questions, I am of noble birth. I've actually only experienced city life for a few years. That was when I was young, before my magic decided to pay me a visit in the middle of my sleep one night. My entire room was frozen solid. They had to break my door down to get inside. I had started a fire because I was freezing to death in the confines of my room. My mother was relieved to see me, however, my father, he looked frightened when he saw the excitement I had on my face when I showed him the fire I was able to conjure with just a flick of my wrist. In that moment I had realized that my entire life was about to change."

"So, you're a mage? What happened after your father found out?"

Looking deep into the embers of the fire she sighed, "he sent me away. I was ripped from my mother's arms by him, and he swore to me that I would never see mother again if it was the last thing that he'd do. My mother was broken, as was I. I would've thought that he would've shown me more love. Once he knew I had magic it was so easy for him to throw me out of his life."

"I never knew my father. Mom says that he died when he was patrolling the forest. He was actually a human believe it or not. Mother was the one to stumble across him. She didn't go into detail, but she said what she saw could only have been done by an ogre," Jaegan looked sadly down at the rabbit that he was almost done eating.

"Do you have no memories of him?"

"Just one," he looked even more sad than he had before, "the one where he walked out the door to takeover his friends shift and never came back."

"Oh, Jaegan," she held her arms out and he fell into her. Though she had only known the boy for a short time she had felt like she had been caring for him for years. She held onto him as the tears streamed down his cheeks. She lifted a barrier that would muffle the sounds of his cries to prevent unwanted company from checking in on them. She cooed him and brushed his hair out of his face. His mabari pup had his head rested on his front paws with a look of concern written across them.

The two of them sat there for what seemed like hours. She held onto him until his last sniffle has signaled his falling asleep. She sighed as she let down the barrier unleashing the sounds of the forest that was let loose unto her ears. She laid back and rested her head on the hood that was attached to her cloak. Staring up at the night sky she wondered what life would've been like for her if her father had left her when she was a child. If he hadn't been a coward, and hid away from the fighting, then maybe, maybe he would've been a more forgiving man and wouldn't have cut her off so abruptly.

She pondered that thought along with many other possibilities that could've happened until sleep overcame her. The little mabari pup curled up against her side opposite of Jaegan, and fell right asleep. She was able to remember where she had set her trap to wake her if someone tried to get too close, and she hooked it up with a flick of her finger and sleep finally took her.

—

The two awoke the next morning to the snapping of a twig. Riley jumped to her feet in an instant only to be met with the eyes of the mabari pup who had tried walking off without making a noise to do it's business. She sighed collapsing to the ground in a seated position. She looked to Jaegan and smiled at his tousled hair as he tiredly rubbed one of his eyes. She made her way over to the embers of the fire she had burning the night before and cast a small spell with her breath that cooled the embers burning light. She opened the ground underneath where the fire was with a wave of her hand and reached into the hole to grab her things that she stored in there.

"That was amazing! You just, you just cooled the fire with your breath and you had your stuff hidden underneath the fire. Oh man, I really wish that I had magic. That'd be so cool," Jaegan jumped to his feet leaving whatever tiredness he had in himself before in the dust.

"Everyone has magic, just not all know how to use it," Riley smiled at the boy as she lifted her staff out of the hole, "it is something that awakens in a person who has the power to do great things with their magic, I believe. Otherwise I've just been telling myself the wrong thing for a long time now."

"Oh, I know that you'll do great things. I'm sure you will. Your magic is far superior than that of any mage I've ever seen. It's even better than the keeper at the camp that mother and I stayed in for a while after father left," pain passed his face for an instant but was wiped away with a smile, "where are we going after this? I'm sure since you grabbed your things that we're not sticking around for very long."

"My plan was to find a village and see if there is any business that I can get into. I was able to destroy my phylactery before escaping my tower so we don't have to worry about templars chasing us, but I just have to remember not to use my magic in public like I could while I was in the tower."

"That shouldn't be too hard for you, should it?"

"I'll have to see. I've never know what life is like with magic outside of the tower. One slip of magic and I will probably get sent back to the tower become tranquil, or they won't even bother with that and just kill me on the spot."

"Don't say that."

"I'm just trying to scare myself into refraining from using my magic in front of others. You and I are fairly similar, hence why I can trust you, but one wrong move, and I'm dust."

"You'll be okay," Jaegan smiled as he took hold of her cloak that was in tatters, "I'll stop you if I notice that you're acting up, okay?"

Looking down at his smile he couldn't help but return the favor by smiling back at him and taking hold of his hand, "thank you, Jaegan."

The two began the journey to the closest town that they could think of. It was going to be a while before they were to reach their destination. There were mountains to climb, and leftover darkspawn from the blight to face. Riley knew that she would do anything to protect the boy and his mabari pup, and she would be willing to give up anything to ensure that he is able to find his happiness wherever it is that the two will end up in the end. She will ensure that her magic stayed quiet to protect herself, and mostly protect Jaegan.

The closest city in relation to the forest that they were in was the city of Haven.

—

Upon arrival to the village Riley noticed that everyone seemed to be on edge. There were templars all around them. Riley was frightened of the fact that she recognized one of the templars to be one of her caretakers in the circle tower she resided in for majority of her life. She was frozen and unsure of what to do. Jaegan tugged at her wrist snapping her out of the fixation she had on the templar.

"Can we get something to eat? I'm starving," Jaegan cried as he didn't seem to be phased by the unusual number of templars surrounding them.

"Yeah, kid. Just give me a second," she whispered to herself as she stuck her hand out and swiped the coinpurse of a templar that passed by them. She looked around to ensure that no one noticed what she had done. The coast was clear.

"That was pretty cool," Jaegan whispered as they began making their way to the tavern for a bite to eat.

"I know it was," she grinned down to the boy who was nothing but smiles.

Once inside the tavern they were greeted by a young scrawny boy who was excited to see people who weren't mage or templar, "oh! Welcome, welcome, please pick any open seat you'd like. I'll be with you in just a moment."

The two made their way to a booth along the wall and took their seat. The boy made his way over to the table with haste, nervousness hidden in his voice, "what can I get for you guys? We've got roasted chicken, deer, duck, you name it and we'll make it!"

"We'll take a roasted chicken to share," she smiled at the boy as he went to walk away but she stopped him before he could leave, "what's going on here? What's with all of the templars?"

"I hear that a mage is on the loose and that they believe them to be a strong one, I tell ya!" the boy whispered over the counter to them, "I also hear that a couple of coins could help me tell you more information."

Riley rolled her eyes and dropped two silvers in the boy's hand, "keep talking."

A grin spread across the boy's face as he shoved the coins in his pant pocket and got closer to the two of them before shouting, "IT'S THEM! IT'S THE LADY MAGE YOU TOLD ME TO KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR!"

Riley cursed to herself as she jumped to her feet shoving Raegan behind her with. She held up one of her hands and conjured up a fireball as she glared at the templars that surrounded her. Eyeing everyone that was around her she wasn't surprised at all when a familiar face popped through the crowd.

"Irving, what are you doing out of the tower? I thought you had a prison to run," she snickered looking at his expressionless face.

"Riley," Irving croaked, "your father sent for you to return to the tower."


	2. Ch 02 :: Family Ties

**_Family Ties_**

"Riley," Irving croaked, "your father sent for you to return to the tower."

—

Shock filled her features as the fire diminished from the palm of her hand. She drew a deep breath regaining her composure as she closed her eyes. She thought about the past and how that one memory of her father has changed her whole perspective on parenting for the rest of her life. She looked up to Irving who gave her a look of pity for he knew what she had to do to keep the peace.

"Fine I will go with you," she grumbled as she held her hands out in front of her in fists.

"But Riley! You can't let them take you away! What about your freedom! If you take them down now then they won't be able to track you down again! You'll be free to do whatever you want," Reagan exclaimed.

"I can't, I can't go back now," Riley whispered to herself realizing what she was saying. She looked back out to the people watching and shouted, "My father is using my mother to prevent me from performing stunts like this. It worked the first time I tried to escape, but here on out it's no use! I've grown tired of feeling like a caged animal. I'd rather be deemed apostate then go back to that wretched place."

The surrounding templars were left aghast, they weren't quite sure how to approach a mage who was willing to die free, but they remembered that they were instructed to bring her back alive. The first enchanter stepped aside as the door to the tavern creaked open. A man dressed in fine linen and cloth stained black and silver slowly entered the building. Draped over his shoulders was a cape made of a wolf pelt; it's skull still intact resting on his left shoulder. Riley knew this man all too well.

Through gritted teeth she snarled, "father."

"Hello, darling," he snickered in a venomous tone, "please do as First Enchanter Irving says. It'll just make things go by quicker and less irritatingly."

"I've said it once and I'll say it again. I will not go back to that place. The tower is like a prison, and I'll be damned if you think a single person in there is too dangerous to travel this world. They're wonderful people who just need tutors and once they've learned how to control their magic they will be okay to take the world on their own!"

"Oh, my dear, but that's where you're wrong. Once they learn how to use their magic they will try to annihilate anything and everything that stands in their way. In accordance to the chant of light, 'magic exists to serve man, not rule over him.' Don't try and tell me that you yourself wouldn't attempt at the king's life if you were given the chance now would you?"

Rage began to build up inside of her as she looked over the father that she once saw as a loving and caring person. His hair short and slicked back to hide the unruly curls that dwelled underneath them. He stood a way that just forced people to bend the knee per his will, his chest puffed out and a smug look written on his face constantly. He knew what kind of power he held, and he knew that there was nothing anyone could do to try and remove him from his position.

"If you just let me go, I promise you that I will never bother anyone again. I will travel to the forest where the damned witches of the wild dwell if that'll prevent you from ever following me again. And by the gods just leave mother out of this! She has played no part in my actions and she should not suffer the consequences."

"My darling, but that's where you're wrong. I had some researchers do some digging, and it turns out that you're mother is not of nobility at all. Her great-great-grandmother was an apostate who bewitched a man into turning her into nobility. The magical powers skipped three generations and landed on you, a bloody mage."

"What are you going to do about it? I have magic, dad. I can't help it. It's not like I can just throw on a pair of gloves and pretend that it doesn't exist. This is who I am, why can't you just accept it?"

"It was a mage who murdered my father. I will never forgive those who possess magic so long as I shall live."

The room drew quiet. The only sounds that echoed through the room were that of the kitchen staff working behind the swinging doors only feet away. Not a word was spoken for a long time as everyone just stood and stared at the man whose expression went from anger to loneliness. A broken soul lied beneath the armor he had built up around him. He had felt betrayed by the woman he loved most, and he knew that she loved him. The thought of living with a woman whose family were once mages, the very kind that killed his father, drew him insane.

"Alright. I will go back."

His head snapped up in an instant mouth agape. The fiery blue eyes that he met reminded him of those of his wife's who he fell in love with at first sight. He was at a loss for words, and his shoulders drooped his hands lying limp at his sides. He'd made a mistake, and he had no way of fixing it. He waved the templars turning on his heels closing the tavern door behind him. Riley didn't resist as a templar shoved her to the ground. Jaegan was screaming at her to resist but to no avail she just closed her eyes and waited to be locked back up in the tower.

"Are you feeling any better now?" Irving questioned as he took a seat next to the woman sitting in the windowsill watching the as the waves of Lake Calenhad crashed against what remained of the bridge that once stood.

"No, not really. I'm locked back up in here and it brought Jaegan with. He's not a mage but I can't let him just roam the world by himself. It's a selfish decision and I'm hoping that it's the best one," Riley sighed slowly turning her gaze from the window to the eyes of an elderly man whose mind had broken a long time ago.

"He'll be in good hands here. Much better than that of an Alienage wouldn't you say?"

"There he'd at least have people who knew him and understand him. Heck, if he hadn't stumbled upon me a few days ago then maybe he'd have found another dalish camp and would be ten times better off than he is now."

"That may be true, but at least in here he doesn't have to scavenge for his meals and worry about taking care of his dog. He's able to have a sense of security in a sense. I've seen the outside world and it's not a pretty one to live in if you're not born rich or have talent."

"I do have talent. People just think that I'll become possessed and kill them if I let my mood get the best of me."

Irving stood up his bones cracking in every place imaginable. He rested his hand on her shoulder for a moment before turning and leaving the upset woman to think her thoughts through on her own. There was no getting through to her.

Just as Irving was about to open the door Jaegan stormed in with his mabari in tow. His arms flailing around as he skidded to a halt, "this place is amazing! I feel like we're living in a castle. I have no idea how you would ever want to leave this place!"

A faint smile spread on Irving's face as he saw something change in Riley's eyes. He knew that that boy would be the one to change her mind. He was certain of it.


	3. Ch 03 :: Passing Without Possession

_**Passing Without Possession**_

"Riley?" a voice muttered in the darkness stirring the sleeping mage who refused to be disturbed, "Riley."

The voice became more aggressive and the more that they spoke her name the more irritate she grew. She was moments away from throwing a fireball at the intruders face, but she could recognize the sound of their voice. It had to have been someone that she knew for most of her life. Someone that she could trust with her own life if it depended on it.

"What do you want Jowan?" she grumbled into her pillow not wanting to shed light on her eyes that have known darkness for the last few hours.

"I'm just glad that you're alright. You've been asleep for nearly half a day now and your little elf boy was growing worried. He was too afraid to come and wake you himself when some of the other ladies told him what happens when people wake you up."

"I'm not that bad," Riley grumbled as she peeled herself off of the sheets into a seated position on the edge of the bed. She rubbed her eyes in an attempt to be rid of the tiredness. Slowly her vision adjusted to the light and she was able to see that the chambers were entirely empty besides Jowan and herself.

"Where is everyone?"  
"They've all gone to class or to lunch," Jowan smiled, "Everyone was glad to see that you came back in one piece after your last escape, but when the templars brought you back you were out cold. No one could wake you up."

"Has it really been that long?"  
"I'm afraid so. They've also pushed your harrowing up."

"What are you talking about?"

"They want you to perform the ritual today, Riley. They need you upstairs as soon as you're ready."

Riley's eyes widened. She knew that this would mean that there would be no escaping from here on out. She would be chained to this tower for the rest of her life. There was no way of her escaping the templars anymore. The ball attached to the chain wrapped around her ankle grew large enough to where she would not be able to carry the weight of it behind her any longer.

"Well, shit," was all Riley could muster as she slowly made her way to the washrooms to prepare herself for the harrowing.

* * *

"Good luck, Riley!" Jaegan grinned as he made his way down the stairs with one of the senior mages who taught basic literature classes. The whole way down the stairs he waved his hands in a ridiculous motion that earned a grin from Riley as she waved back to him in exchange.

"Are you ready for this?" Gregior grumbled not wanting to deal with the runaway mage any longer.

"As ready as I'll ever be, I suppose," Riley shrugged her shoulders not wanting to show how nervous she was about the whole thing.

Her eyes wandered around the room and she recognized a familiar face standing in the crowd. She smiled in his direction causing his face to turn a light shade of pink as he smiled in return. She knew that the templar fancied her, and she couldn't deny the fact that he was quite handsome. However, their unity would mean that there would be no order any longer in the tower with a templar falling in love with a mage.

She sighed as she walked up to the pedestal filled with Lyrium to begin her harrowing ritual. Gazing into the puddle of pure Lyrium she saw her reflection which resembled that of a child. Her vision began to grow dark and before she knew it her world completely changed.

* * *

"You may call me mouse," a tiny little rodent spoke as Riley began to approach after taking down a fade wolf.

"What are you?" Riley's eyebrows furrowed as she glanced down at the creature unsure of what to think of the beast.

"I am simply a mage turned mouse," the creature spoke as a white light enveloped it to reveal a man with flowing hair that resembled the color of a carrot freshly picked from a garden.

"That's weird. I've never seen magic like that before," Riley eyed the man unsure of what to think of him, "I'm not sure if I can trust you or not."

"Good. That's the way that you need to treat everything when it comes to the fade," the man spoke in a stern tone, "you need to defeat the demon that resides in this realm in order to be free from the damned ritual without being possessed."

"And how do I know that this is true?"  
"I partook in this ritual a long, long time ago. I know what the demon looks like and I know that I just told you not to trust anything in the fade but what else are you going to do here? Walk around until you figure out what your purpose for being in here is?"  
"I suppose you're right. If you're wrong however I could just as easily take you out."

"Fair enough. Let's get this over with."

The two set out on the way to the lair in which the demon of this realm resided. Riley knew that she could handle whatever it was that this demon had to throw at her. There was no way that she was going to go down without a fight. She had a little boy to look out for and a close friend waiting for her on the other side. She couldn't abandon them due to a moment of weakness in the fade. This place wasn't reality and it wasn't going to stop her.

Mouse began to protest when she approached the lair without the assistance of the other spirits that resided in this realm. She simply laughed and shrugged his comments off. Lava began to pour from a section of the ground. Hands coated in the substance shot out of the puddle that continued to grow that pulled the body of a rage demon up above the ground. It's deep laughed echoed throughout the fade. Riley had never seen a rage demon personally and she could feel the heat radiating off of the demon.

"Insolent fool. You will never best me!" the rage demon cackled as he released flames from his hands that singed the ground around him.

Riley snickered as she conjured up a spell of an ice prison that trapped the demon. He howled as he attempted to break himself free, but alas the elements were not on his side. There would be no escaping for him. With another blast of ice the rage demon was finished and his lackeys that began crawling in made their way out of the battlefield for fear of their own lives.

"Was this test supposed to be this easy?" Riley panted when she realized how much magic she had actually used in that fight. In the moment it hadn't seemed like much but once it was over she felt like a ton of bricks were resting on her chest.

"You did it," mouse looked to Riley in disbelief, "you actually did it. Oh my, you are a hero!"

"Hero?" Riley raised an eyebrow to his comment.

"Now that that demon is slain I can leave this place, but only if you allow me to hitch a ride out of here."

"What are you proposing?"  
"I will simply attach myself to you and once I find a body that I can stay in since mine is long gone. They won't even notice that I'm apart of you."

"I'm beginning to wonder if that first demon was actually the test."

"What are you trying to say—" Mouse began to sound offended when a sinister smirk overcame his features, "well done. Simple killing is a warrior's job. The real dangers of the Fade are preconceptions... careless trust... pride. Keep your wits about you, mage. True tests... never end."

With that mouse floated up in the air transforming into what Riley could only assume was a pride demon. She was shocked to see the size of the monster that stood before her. She was honestly worried that she wouldn't be able to defeat a demon of this size all on her own. She stood her ground when she was surprised to see that everything was fading to white.

"Did— did I pass the test?"

* * *

Hey all! I appreciate all of you taking the time to read my story, and enjoy it hopefully. If you have any feedback or would like to add anything please don't hesitate! I will try and keep these chapters up to date and upload chapters as soon as I finish them. Thank you all for being so wonderful! :)


	4. Ch 04 :: Tasting the Forbidden Fruit

_**Tasting the Forbidden Fruit**_

The following morning, Riley awoke to the sound of people rushing around the quarters for the female mages in the tower. She grumbled as she made an effort to get herself out of bed. Knowing that she was going to have to get out of bed eventually she decided that earlier was better than never. She opened her personal chest and decided to not wear her circle mage robes for the day because she grew tired of having to deal with the heat that came along with wearing them.

She decided on an off white tunic paired with a pair of brown trousers that matched a pair of small brown slip on shoes that she had tucked under her bed. She could hardly keep her eyes open while she dressed herself. She hadn't noticed her friend enter the room to stand before her.

"I'm glad that your harrowing went smoothly," Jowan smiled taking a seat in the chair sitting across from her against the wall, "they say that it's the fastest harrowing that they've ever experienced in the tower to date."

"That sounds odd," Riley stated with a questionable tone to it, "are they sure? Irving didn't have a quick one as well?"

"No they are certain that you were in and out of there like someone snapped their fingers and you were done. It doesn't surprise me at all honestly. You are the escape artist of the tower after all."

"Thank you, Jowan," Riley smiled at the compliment that she was given by her friend.

"So, can you tell me what it was like? What was the harrowing about?"

"I will tell you, but you have to swear to me that you won't tell a soul."

"I swear on my life that I will never tell anyone. Besides, you're my only friend in this blasted tower."

"Alright. Get closer so that people can't hear me say it."

Jowan moved over and sat beside Riley on her bed and leaned in so that she would be able to whisper in his ear. He figured that if he knew what the harrowing was about then he could possibly pass it easier than anyone and they wouldn't have to execute him or make him tranquil.

"So in the fade, during my harrowing, there was a ton of naked men and women."

Jowan nearly fell on the floor out of shock. His eyes grew wide as he looked at his friend who was snickering away at her joke that she thought was hilarious. Jowan simply rolled his eyes for expecting his friend to actually be serious about anything.

"But seriously, it almost felt unreal. Like I knew that I was there, but it didn't feel like I was. Your mission in there is to defeat a demon of high ranking and in doing so you prevent yourself from being possessed. However, there's someone you meet in there who tries to convince you that they're there to help when actually they're the true test!"

"What are you saying?"  
"He asked me if it would be alright to tag along into the world of the living and depart from my body in the the body of another to become alive again after being trapped in the fade."

"I see. So all you really have to do is prove to that man that there is no way that you're going to let them slide into your soul and possess you?"  
"Exactly."

"Man Riley, you've really one-upped everyone here in being able to figure that out so quickly."

"What can I say, I'm a living genius."

The two burst into laughter as they sat on Riley's bed trying to compose themselves. Riley was glad to be back for a while so that she would be able to see her friend once again before he goes on and becomes a powerful mage just like herself. There was no way that they would make him tranquil. She just couldn't believe that actually happening to her friend.

"On another note," Jowan cleared his throat trying to dim his laughter, "First-Enchanter Irving was asking for you when you awoke."

"What could he want?"  
"Probably wishing to congratulate you for becoming a full fledged mage possibly."

Riley smacked his arm for the sarcasm he gave her. She laughed before standing up and making her way out of her quarters to speak with Irving. Riley decided that she should check in on Jaegan before talking to anyone else. She made her way to the library where the instructor would likely be keep ing Jaegan occupied for the time being.

Once she made it to the library she saw Jaegan sitting at an oversized desk where another elf sat reading a book to Jaegan. Riley could never get that man to talk to her no matter how hard she tried. He would always tell her that she was blocking her light and she could never figure out what his name was. She quietly approached the two not wanting to disturb what they were doing together and she smiled at the excitement that Jaegan had on his face.

"Riley!" Jaegan exclaimed one he realized that she was standing behind him. He jumped out of his chair and wrapped his arms around her. She laughed as she hugged him back, but not as tight as he was hugging her.

"Hey there, kiddo," Riley grinned as she tousled the boys hair.

"I'm so glad that you're okay. I was told what you were doing and I was so worried that you weren't going to make it out of there okay. The keeper always told me that the fade was a good place but being forcefully placed there can do bad things to a person."

"Of course I made it out of there alright. I had to come back and see you of course."

"Thanks for thinking of me!"

"I've gotta go and see Irving now. I just wanted to check in on you and make sure that you're doing alright here."

"I'm doing great! Eadric is reading a reading interesting book about incantations and spells to me. I really wish that I had magical abilities!"

"Thank you Eadric. I really appreciate you doing this for him."

"Of course, but you are blocking the light so it is making it difficult to read."

She sighed with a smile of her face thinking, "same as always."  
Riley waved to Jaegan as she made her way in the direction of Irving's chambers. She was aimlessly walking the halls when she noticed a familiar templar standing guard by one of the rooms. She smiled and made her way over to the handsome templar..

"Oh, um, hello, Riley. I'm glad to um… see that your harrowing went smoothly," he stuttered with the redness becoming worse.

"Hello, Cullen," she smiled at his embarrassment.

"I was chosen to be the templar to strike you down if you became an abomination. I swear that it was nothing personal," Cullen paused to catch his breath for a moment, "I—I'm just glad that you're alright you know."  
"Would you have really struck me down?"

"I would've felt terrible about it. But I serve the Chantry and the Maker and I will do as I am commanded."

"Maybe we could go somewhere else where we can continue this discussion."

"Elsewhere? What are you saying?"

"I've seen the way that you've been looking at me, Cullen."

"Oh my, if you're saying what I think you are… then that would be very, inappropriate and I—I couldn't. I—I should go."

Cullen bows his head before turning on his heel to make his way for the templars quarters downstairs. Riley sighed at the missed chance of trying to become closer to someone other than a scrawny mage type guy. She shrugged it off not taking it personal and made her way for Irving's quarters for the second time.

Once she reached the door she noticed that Irving and Gregior were having a heated discussion with an unfamiliar man. Riley entered the room and stopped near the door not wanting to disrupt their conversation. She could pick out pieces of their conversation and she could determine that they were discussing something related to the Grey Wardens and their connection to the mages.

The mysterious man paused realizing that the three of them were no longer alone in the room, "it appears that someone is here to see you Irving."

Irving turned his head to see that Riley had arrived and he waved to her to approach. Riley slowly made her way over and smiled at the unfamiliar man.

"Ah, if it isn't our new sister in the circle. Come, child," Riving smiled.

"This is her?" Duncan asked walking up to Irving's side.

"Yes, this is her."

"Well Irving, seeing as how you are busy we can discuss this at a later time," Gregior grumbled as he made his way out of the room.

"Ah, yes. Now, where were we… oh, this is Duncan, of the Grey Wardens."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Duncan. My name is Riley"

"Likewise."  
"I'm sure that you've heard about the war brewing in the south. Duncan is here to recruit mages for the upcoming war."

Riley's eyes lit up, "I'd be more than willing to join in the war efforts."

"With the war brewing in the south we need all of the help that we can get, especially from the mages," Duncan nodded to Riley, "I'd be more than happy to take her along if you'd be willing to let her go."

"Let's not be too hasty. She has just become a full fledged mage. Let's let her celebrate for a while before rushing her out into battle so soon. Here, child. I've your mage robes and staff appointing you an official Mage from the Circle of Magi in Ferelden."

"Thank you, Irving. Is that all that you need from me?"  
"Would you mind showing Duncan to his quarters? I'm afraid that I have matters to attend to at the moment."

"Sure thing. Follow me, Duncan."

Riley led Duncan through the winding hallways of the tower to his chambers that were almost on the other side of the floor that they were on. Once they arrived Riley prodded Duncan for answers on the war effort and what it was like on the outside, but he was only able to answer a few of her questions.

Riley thanked Duncan for answering her questions and made her way into the hallway where Jowan stood with a worried look on his face. She approached her friend with a confused expression when he pulled her to the side to discreetly tell her what was going on.

"I really need your help, Riley. And I feel that you're the only one here that I can trust with this information," Jowan spoke almost as if he had just finished running a marathon.  
"What is it, Jowan? You're starting to really worry me," a look of concern overcame her features.

"Follow me."  
Riley followed close behind Jowan as they made their way to the downsized Chantry that they designed specifically for the tower. Jowan looked around to ensure that they weren't being followed and made his way over to a woman dressed in Chantry sister clothes standing in the corner.

"What is going on Jowan?"  
"You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"I promise, now tell me what is going on."

"Lily and I are lovers."

"Well that was unexpected. My condolences, Lily."

"Haha, very funny."

"What's so dire about this?"

"It is against what Lily is expected to follow. We need to escape from the tower so that we can live our lives out in peace."

"Jowan—I"

"Please, Riley. I know that you know how to get out of this tower without being seen better than anyone. If you do this for me than I will seriously owe you for the rest of my life. Please, can you help Lily and me be happy?"  
"Alright. Only because you are my dearest friend, Jowan."

"Thank you!"  
"Now what's the plan?"


	5. Ch 05 :: The Great Escape

_**The Great Escape**_

"I wish they hadn't already sent of my phylactery, Jowan. If I could I would totally escape this hell hole again," Riley exclaimed as she tossed Jowan the phial with his name written on it.

"You would escape with us?" Lily asked, "I thought that you were done running away after everything that happened the last time."

"You can cage a bird and keep it as a pet, but one of those days they will soar high above the sky without a care in the world" Riley grinned as a stray curl fell down over her eye.

Jowan and Lily both grinned as the trio made their way from the room to plan out the rest of their escape. This is where Riley's part of the job came to an end. She was able to help them get free but if she were to do anymore she would be made tranquil for sure. That was something that she was very unwilling to risk. Not when she had Jaegan and his mabari pup to look after.

As they opened the door to the main floor they were greeted by a few familiar faces. The ones that they were not wanting to see at all. Riley cursed under her breath as she sluggishly made her way up the last few stairs coming to an abrupt halt once she'd reached the top. Jowan and Lily seemed to do the same thing.

"I had hoped that you were wrong Gregior, but as I can see this is true," Irving sighed shaking his head at the ground disappointed in what had transpired.

"Take them away knights," Gregior jabbed his thumb in their direction his eyebrows constantly furrowed.

"Wait, the only reason I did this was because you were going to make me tranquil. You didn't believe me to be a powerful enough mage to make it through the harrowing. I promise you that if you let Lily and I go that will be the last that you hear of us," Jowan pleaded looking at the first enchanter. The templars paused looking in Irving's direction waiting for a command.

"I'm sorry Jowan but this is the way that things have been for a long time, and I can't bend the rules for anyone. If I had the power I would change the world to become a more peaceful one, but alas no man has that kind of power," Irving glanced at Jowan with lost eyes hoping that Jowan would make the right decision in the end. He nodded to the templars and they began closing in.

In the spur of the moment Jowan cursed under his breath before pulling out a dagger and slicing open the palm of his hand. Everyone was taken aback as they saw the blood pouring upwards from his hand.

"Jowan…," Riley breathed out in shock as she saw her friend since childhood bending and twisting the templars into piles of broken bones and torn flesh, "this is, no I must be dreaming."

Jowan turned to Lily whose eyes were almost ready to pop out of their sockets, and grabbed her hand only for her to jerk it away. She collapsed in a heap on the ground barely holding herself up with her arms. Jowan attempted to pull her along not wanting to stick around any longer and face the punishment of death that was waiting for him. She yelled, screamed and pushed him away with what little strength she had left finding out that her lover had been the one who was a blood mage all this time.

"Lily," Jowan whispered to her trying to calm her down after what had just transpired.

"Get away from me you bloody monster!" Lily pushed herself away from him not wanting to believe what had just happened right before her eyes, "you just murdered them. People I had known before I even came to this circle! Get out of here and leave me alone!"

He fled broken hearted as Riley ran over to Lily to make sure she was doing okay. She was shaking like a leaf holding her knees to her chest scared for her life. Riley stood up as she heard movement behind her. Irving and Gregior seemed to be the only ones who were left uninjured in Jowan's rage. They slowly pulled themselves off of the ground shocked at what lay before them. There was no turning back now, Jowan was a dead man when the templars caught him.

"Lily, you got yourself in a huge mess. Helping a blood mage escape the circle tower. What in the hell were you thinking!?" Gregior shouted in her direction causing her to flinch in response. She had nothing to say.

"Can't you tell that she had no idea that he was a blood mage? I think that if she'd known she would've run off with the guy, don't you think?" Riley snapped in response.

"And you, you're to be made tranquil. I've grown tired of having to deal and clean up all of the havoc that you've been causing since you were brought here," Gregior snarled at her as he shouted for more of his men to come in and detain Lily and herself.

Then a man walked in after hearing all of the commotion that was going on. Tall, dark complexion, full beard, and hair long enough to put in in a small ponytail at the back of his head. This was the man that Riley had escorted to his quarters during his stay here. Riley tried hard to remember who he was and what he worked for but nothing was coming to mind. It was a kind of military that fought off the dead or whatever.

"What happened here?" the strange man asked as he held his hands together behind his back.

"A blood mage escaped the tower and we need every man on hand to go after him," Gregior barked before nodding his head in the direction of Lily and Riley, "those two over there helped him grab his phylactery and escape."

"All I see is a woman scared out of her mind, and another who is as well but her first thought is to protect the woman who can't compose herself."

"That's not the point. Because of these two there is a blood mage on the loose! Who knows who he is going to kill next!?"

"Riley, come here would you," Irving calmly stated waving his hand for her to approach.

She hesitantly made her way in his direction being wary of Gregior as he eyed her the entire way over. Coming to a stop she tried to avoid the bodies strewn across the floor in a sickening way. She held her composure as she felt her breakfast wanting to come back up and spill across the floor.

"This is Duncan, he is a Grey Warden and I believe that you would make for a good recruit for him to take you along to become one with his organization," Irving blatantly stated.

Riley looked at Irving in shock as she was trying to see if she had heard him correctly. He wanted her to go to the outside world? She became giddy inside excited for her new adventure in life that would take her new places that she'd never seen or even heard of.

"I'd love to, sir," Riley smiled at Duncan who nodded in response.

"Irving, I'm going to need more than just a single mage in order to help fight in this war. They do not need to become grey wardens, but simply fight alongside us in the coming battle," Duncan stated not breaking eye contact with the first enchanter.

"Eh, yes of course, you will receive 13 mages to help in your effort. I know that it's not much but one mage can equate to 20 men if you let them use their full potential!"

"Absolutely not," Gregior stomped over into the conversation, "we're already doing too much sending those 13 mages off with them, and now we're going to let a criminal go as well? What kind of circle tower is this that just let's it mages roam the world free?"

"Becoming a Grey Warden gets rid of any wrongdoing one might have done in their past. It is a chance for them to start anew and find a new path in life that will ultimately help save the world in the case of a blight to happen. Grey Wardens are the only ones who have the ability to kill an archdemon. They are the heros behind the shadows who don't care for fame or fortune."

"I don't—"

"Gregior, enough. I've made up my mind on this. You need to focus more on ensuring that Jowan doesn't get away from us. Riley going along with the Grey Wardens will ultimately help with the circle becoming a better environment. Someone here to inspire others to attempt leaving the circle tower will not be very good for use, wouldn't you say?"

For a moment Gregior stood there and contemplated arguing with Irving but he knew that he was right in this situation. There was no logical argument that he could make that would change the old man's mind. He simply nodded and made his way over to Lily gingerly helping her on her feet and escorting her out of the room. Once the door had closed behind the two of them Riley sighed with relief that she was not going to be made tranquil by the man she despised the most in the whole tower.

"What about Jaegan? If he doesn't go with me then I'm not going anywhere," she stated not budging an inch on the subject.

"Well, I'm sure that the boy would be fine to come along, though once you become a Warden there will be no going back to your old life. There may be a chance that this boy will be left without a mother," Duncan responded trying to sound as reasonably kind as he could.

"I'm not his biological mother, but I don't know… I haven't really adopted him, but I see myself as his caretaker from here on out until he's old enough to take care of himself. I'm not leaving him here by himself to live out the rest of his days."

"We can work around it. We can find someone to take care of him while we're off doing our job at protecting Ferelden from the darkspawn during any signs that a blight might be upon us."

"So I guess this is where you head off to pack up your things now?" Irving asked with a tone of sadness coating the question. He looked to Riley with cold eyes as he knew that he was about to lose a student he now saw as one of his own that he had cared for during the past seventeen years.

"Irving… you know that you became like a father to me the day I arrived here. I will greatly miss you and will always cherish the memories I made while I was here with you. You taught me how to master my magical abilities, and many other things that my mother and father got to miss out on after sending me here," she paused for a moment thinking about how she was going to finish saying her goodbyes, "you are like a father to me Irving, and I will always think of you."

Slowly she made her way over to him wrapping him in a hug with tears threatening to break through. Irving returned the hug full of fear that he was never going to see her again. The moment seemed to last a lifetime before the pulled away from one another both wiping their eyes. The two smiled at one another before Riley turned on her heels and made her way back to where she stays. Irving stayed put sighing thinking about how they were going to clean up the mess made by one of their own.

Once Riley had returned to her room she saw Jaegan lying his head on the mabari on her bed reading a fantasy novel about a hero saving the princess from a fire breathing dragon. She smiled as she sat down next to him. She thought for a moment about how she was going to break the news to him.

"We're leaving the circle tower, Jaegan," Riley awkwardly smiled at him hoping that he wouldn't be too upset about leaving the place that he thought to be the best place in the world to live in.

He jumped up, waking his mabari, and grinned from ear to ear, "where are we going next? Oh man, I hope that we're going to Orzammar, I've always wanted to see what the dwarves look like. I've never seen one before I for sure know that I'd never see one that's here. Oh! Or are we gonna go and see Denerim with the king and queen? That would be totally epic you know."

"You're not upset that we're leaving the tower?"

"Not at all! My mom and I did nothing but travel with the dalish camp that we stayed with. I don't like staying in one place for too long. It's how I've lived my whole life, you know?"

Riley smiled knowing that this was going to be a good experience getting to go and travel the world with a boy and his mabari. She was excited to see what the real world is actually like instead of just reading novel after novel trying to picture it. She knew that this was the right decision for her and Jaegan both. They were gonna live their lives free of worry and fear.


	6. Ch 06 :: First Impressions Matter

_**First Impressions Matter**_

"What are you talking about? There's nothing in sight. There can't be darkspawn near here," Riley exclaimed as she jerked her head around looking for any signs of movement in the tree ridden forest, "how can you tell that there are darkspawn nearby?"

"That is something for you to learn later, but for now just keep quiet. We don't know how many there are and if there's a lot then we don't want to attract attention to ourselves. Especially if there's an ogre with them," Duncan whispered to her with a stern expression written on his face.

Riley did as she was told and held Jaegen close to her. He was shaking and clenching onto her tunic she'd purchased in the last town that they had passed through. Nothing like a mage dress to scream that you're a circle freak. She slowed her breathing down to a normal level as she scoped the area for any signs of life. Her grip on Jaegan tightened while she watched Duncan calmly reach for the blade he had strapped to his waist. She focused her magic in order to ensure that she'd be ready in case anything were to show up.

"They're getting closer," Duncan cursed as he began to withdraw his blade, "keep an eye on the boy and back me up in case there are too many.

Nodding her head in understanding she watched as Duncan left their cover to find out what the numbers were that they'd be going up against. She looked down to Jaegan and saw that he was frightened out of his mind and she felt horrible that there was nothing that she could do to help him.

For a split second she contemplated running away, and leaving Duncan to find someone else to recruit to the Grey Wardens. However, her phylactery was still in the hands of the circle tower and if she were to run away she'd endanger Jaegan and his mabari, who she had just learned that his name is Yevven. He had named him after his father. She jumped to her feet when she heard her named called from Duncan a ways in the distance. Pulling Jaegan to his feet the two of them began running in his direction.

"Is that—" she was cut off when a earth shaking thud hit the ground. There was an ogre in this fight and he was not looking to play nice.

Immediately Riley conjured up a fireball in the palm of her hand and launched it in the direction of the ogre. She landed spot on right in the ogre's eye causing it to fall to the ground from the sudden burn to his face. The ogre cried as it rolled around in an attempt to put out the flames. The ogre jerked up heaving as it looked Riley dead in the eyes. It's face a melting mess of flesh that will never heal. The monster pulled itself and began charging Riley.

"Get out of here!" she shouted to Jaegan pushing him out of the line of fire taking a direct blow to her side.

She was thrown back 20 feet the wind completely knocked out of her. She attempted to catch her breath as she rolled over and came face to face with the ogre hovering over her. She looked the charred hole that used to be where the creature's eye used to be. For a split second she could almost relate to this thing, and she hesitated. Letting out a blood-curtling screech the ogre slammed its fist into the ground right next to her head. Drool falling all over her head and body she squirmed in an attempt to free herself from her likely death if she were to stay there.

"Riley!" Jaegan cried tears streaming down his face as he watched from a safe distance, "get up, Riley!"

The ogre's head snapped in the direction of the sudden noise and began to let out a bone chilling laughter that sent shivers down Riley's body. He propped himself up and looked in the direction of the boy who was scared senseless and began slowly approaching him. Riley was up in an instant. Her instincts kicking in and she let her mind take over. She focused every ounce of energy within her holding her hands in front of her. Ghost like hands gripped the ogres arms and stopped him in his tracks.

"Don't you touch him!" Riley screamed as she began separating her arms from in front of her until they snapped to the sides. The ogre's body was torn in half and the forest was silenced by the screech of agony let out by the ogre who was now lying dead on the ground. Not another sound echoed throughout.

She raced over to Jeagan and held him close as he began bawling his eyes out into her slobber soaked shirt. Her heart was racing after worrying that she wouldn't have made it in time. She had endangered his life and she wasn't about to let it happen again. Yevvan barked alerting Riley that someone was approached. She whipped around without a second thought and launched an icicle in the direction she knew something was in.

With a loud thud the icicle hit the ground. It had been Duncan who was all bloodied up from fighting off the darkspawn who became separated from the ogre. Thankfully he had had his shield up and ready on the defense. She apologized profusely as he just shrugged it off not wanting to disturb the boy who was obviously shaken up after everything that had happened.

"You made good work of this ogre," Duncan motioned in the direction of the ogre literally split in half, "I don't think that I've seen any mage with that sort of power."

"You ask for a mage and you'll get one as strong as 20 regular men. Never underestimate the power of a mage," Riley softly smiled in his direction, "it wasn't until I realized that he was in danger that I was able to unlock that sort of power. The most I've been able to do is rip apart a small novel. Nothing on this scale."

"You might want to get used to it. A blight is coming and the Grey Wardens are going to need that power."

She nodded her head knowing what kind of role that she was going to be playing in this upcoming war if it really does end up happening. Slowly she pulled herself up and composed herself before looking down at her clothes.

"Before we make it the rest of the way we might need to stop by a river or lake so that I can wash up. There's no way I'm about to go and meet the king and the fabled Grey Wardens looking like this do you think?"

He laughed, "no, I suppose not"

* * *

"So you're a mage?"

"So what if I am? Worried I'll turn you into a toad pretty boy?" Riley snickered after seeing the way that this man had treated one of her friends from the circle tower just trying to cooperate with the Wardens.

"No, no, no! Not at all," he nervously laughed before continuing, "I just didn't expect it is all. I didn't think that mages from the circle tower we allowed to—"

"Allowed to… what?"

"Y'know, do the deed."

"What in the maker are you blabbering on about? What kind of deed are you talking about? I'm going to need you to clarify."

"The thing you do to have kids, such as the one that you have, y'know."

"Sex?"

"Yes, that's the word I was looking for! Sex! The marvelous deed that is the sin of all mankind when performed out of wedlock! So you mages are allowed to do that sort of thing?"

"First off, yes mages are people too and I knew tons of people in the circle who did the 'deed,' and second off Jaegan is not my son."

"Then what is he, what? Is he a mage too? Was he someone else's son?"

"He is a boy. No he's not a mage. And yes he was."

"Was he born in the circle tower?"

"As a matter of fact, no he wasn't. The maker just plopped him down into my arms when he was a wee babe because I performed a blood ritual because I myself can never have kids cause I've never even had a period. I'm guessing that I'm missing some vital organs required for that kind of job."

"I-I didn't—"

"You didn't what? Didn't mean to provoke a mage due to the fact that you fear us and think that we're all alike? So you shoot a million questions my way asking me about my sex life just because I have a child traveling companion?"

"No—"

"For an attractive person you are quite the asshole," she glared daggers into him before turning on her heels and storming off, "I will go find Daveth and Ser Jory and meet you by Duncan once I've grouped them up so that I can get this stupid thing over with and on with my life."

Taken aback the man just stood there unsure of what to say. Suddenly it dawned on him, "I never caught your name!"

"Riley."

"My name's Alistair!"

"I didn't ask."

He huffed crossing his arms over his chest as she watched her storm off. Who was she to be so moody towards him. All he did was ask a few questions about what it was like in the circle tower. He didn't see anything wrong with that at all. There is nothing wrong with that, right?

* * *

Oh man I really hated to write this scene because I hate to see my Alistair hurt! :( I promise you though that they warm up to each other later on in the story (sooner than you think)! No need to fear the romance woman is here! Who knows, maybe we'll throw in some smutty stuff later on. ;) Thank you all for reading my story! This is my cannon campaign for my Dragon age games, and once I finish writing this one I plan on writing one for my Hawke and my Inquisitor! So stay tuned for more juicy stuff! :D


	7. Ch 07 :: Wild From Within

_**Wild from Within**_

For some reason seeing her all flirty with Daveth had his blood boiling. Why was she so rude to him and is nothing but flirty with her? What did he do to piss her off so bad? He just dragged along trying not to let his emotions get the better of him for the sake of the mission. They needed to find those treaties and they needed to find them fast. It was starting to get dark out and the darkspawn are more active during the night hours.

"C'mon guys we need to start picking up the pace. It's starting to get dark out and we need to get back to camp before dusk," Alistair spoke as he walked to the front of the group taking the lead.

Riley scoffed as he walked past her causing him to give her an odd look. He didn't feel like dealing with it so he just continued on his way. The four of them made their way through the wilds after collecting the three vials of darkspawn blood and finally stumbled across the castle that was said to hold these treaties.

"There, that chest over there is what Duncan described the treaties to be in," Alistair exclaimed as he made his way over in the direction of the chest.

Out of the blue a crow flies in and just before it's about to land a cloud of black smoke envelops the bird. A woman appears in the crows place smugly grinning at the four unknown people wandering about the wilds. She eyes over everyone in shock and notices that one of them possesses magic, much like herself. Slowly she made her way over, the clothing on her shirt barely concealing her chest as it flowed about in the wind.

"Well, well, what have we here?" she questions as she circles around Riley her golden eyes showing a sense of intrigue.

"Who are you?" Alistair shouted withdrawing his sword from the sheath.

"Who am I you pry? You walk into my home expecting me to tell you who I am when I know none of you strange people?" the woman rested a hand on Riley's shoulder causing her to tense up at the touch, "I might ask you the same thing."

"Why should we answer you, witch?" Daveth asked his hand shaking in clenched fists at his side.

"My name is Riley, it is nice to meet you ma'am," she stated without a fear in her heart.

"Such manners from this one. You do not fear me as these men do, do you not?"

"I've no reason to fear you. There's no sign that you plan on attacking us, unless I am mistaken here. Plus you possess magic much like myself."

"As is nature with animals it's always the females that do not show fear, I see. Men cower once they set eyes on a witch, thinking they'll be turned into a wretched toad."

A smug look came over Riley's face as she glanced over at Alistair who looked more pissed than before. She felt happiness rise up within her after the ex-templar had been proven to be the one in the wrong once again.

"My name is Alistair, these two men are Daveth and Ser Jory. We do not fear you, you simply surprised us turning from crow to human like that. What is your name?"

"My name is Morrigan. Am I correct in assuming that what you came here for are the treaties of old that the Grey Wardens wish to repossess after being lost for so long?"

"What did you do with them?"

"It twas not I who removed them. Twas my mother in fact."

"Would you mind taking us to her, Lady Morrigan?" Riley politely asked not wanting to aggravate the woman already upset with the men that she's traveling with.

"Since you asked so nicely I think that I will. Follow me."

The four of them followed Morrigan farther into the forest for what seemed like hours when they finally came across a hut. There was smoke rising from the chimney showing that someone was home. An elderly lady exited the building grinning when she realized that her daughter had brought home some guests. She brushed off the skirt of her dress and approached those who were coming closer.

"Hello, Morrigan. Who have you brought with you today?" the elderly lady asked her voice gravelly.

"These are the wardens. They were out searching the wilds for the treaties that were stored in that chest you broke open a while ago," Morrigan replied gesturing to the four standing before them.

"My name is Flemeth, what are your names?"

"Are you _the_ Flemeth? The ones that all of the story books are all about?" Riley asked with giddiness coating her voice.

"And if I was?"

"Then I would feel so honored to have met you. You were my idol when I was locked up in the circle tower growing up. You were the one person who kept me going in that place in hopes that I would one day finally escape that living hell and travel the world free."

Flemeth laughed before smiling in response, "my girl, you sure have a fire burning within you. Might I ask for your name?"

"Oh, shoot my name is Riley, Riley Amell. My companions are Alistair, Daveth and Ser Jory. Alistair is the only one of us right now who is an official Grey Warden but the three of us are performing the joining tonight so that we will soon serve."  
A grim expression came over Flemeth's face before she shook it off and looked at everyone surrounding her, "let me go grab those treaties for you so that you can be on your way. You'll want to get out of her before it gets dark. They get more riled up once the sun goes down."

With that Flemeth went inside for only a moment and came out with the scrolls handing them to Alistair. She nodded to everyone signaling her goodbye, and returned the the task she was doing before they had arrived. Morrigan escorted the group back to their camp to ensure that they didn't end up killed or lost through the complexity that is the wilds. There would be no use for those treaties if the Darkspawn has killed them all.

Riley waved Morrigan goodbye before she turned around transforming back into the crow and flying off. There was no way for her to ever speak to this woman again. This would be their last and final encounter. She was dying to learn how she was able to transform into a crow. Kicking rocks with her boots she grinning thinking about all of the other sorts of animals that she could probably transform into. Morrigan could probably turn herself into a mouse all the way up to a druffalo!

"What are you all smiley for?" Alistair snickered looking at Riley who looked like a buffoon with her head hung down and a wide grin on her face.

"Just thinking of going back and talking to that Morrigan," Riley commented not wanting to speak to this man anymore.

"You'd want to turn yourself into a bird for the fun of it? I couldn't imagine. You'd be parping everywhere!"

"I wouldn't learn how to just turn into a bird, pretty boy. I'd quite honestly learn to turn into a wolf or a feline that way I can see what it's like to live life with heightened senses. I'd be able to experience the world in a whole new way. Doesn't that just sound amazing?" Riley beamed, her eyes lighting up like the stars shining overhead.

Alistair gulped feeling a slight blush rising to his cheeks as he watched this woman in front of his passionately speak about something she dearly cared about. It made him feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He wasn't quite sure how to respond to what she had said because his tongue was all tied. Quickly he nodded his head and whipped around heading forward with quick pace. He most definitely did not want her to see him in this state. She would likely make fun of him and call him a 'pansy templar lover.'

Confusion took over Riley's features as she watched him storm off. She wasn't certain if she had said something to offend him, but she shrugged it off when she saw Jaegan and Yevvan running her direction. She crouched down to welcome the hug that Jaegan was hinting at with his arms flailing about. He hit her full force knocking her back onto the ground with a slight thud. She huffed before breaking out into laughter as Yevvan ran up and began licking her face all over.

"How was it? Did you guys have a good time out there? Oh and did you find the flower for the sick mabari?" Jaegan shot questions at her left and right she wasn't sure which one to answer first.

"Well, it wasn't terrible but definitely not as fancy as the tower. And I do believe that we had a good time out there," she smiled looking over to Daveth as she spoke watching him make his way over to where Alistair was speaking to Duncan, "and did you mean this flower?"

A white petaled flower with red pollen decorating them. Jaegan grinned as she ushered him off to bring it to the kennel master while she went and found out what everyone was talking about without her. She made her way over and Duncan nodded to her before speaking.

"Now is the time to begin the ritual. Follow me," Duncan motioned for everyone to follow him in the direction of the building that Riley remembered meeting Alistair in.

Once they reach their destination Duncan walks away for a moment to grab something required for the ritual to begin. The three wardens in training all stand there and wonder what kind of ritual it is that they're going to be performing. Nothing serious comes to mind that could be dire enough to cause instant death. They all shrugged it off after a while as Duncan returned holding a goblet full of a thick red liquid.

"What is that? Are we supposed to drink the darkspawn blood that we collected from the darkspawn today?" Riley snickered as she thought her joke was pretty funny.

"As a matter of fact you are," Duncan blatantly stated.

"What?" the three shouted in unison.


	8. Ch 08 :: The Ritual Begins

_**The Ritual Begins**_

" _What is that? Are we supposed to drink the darkspawn blood that we collected from the darkspawn today?" Riley snickered as she thought her joke was pretty funny._

" _As a matter of fact you are," Duncan blatantly stated._

" _What?" the three shouted in unison._

* * *

"There's no way I'm drinking that. That's dead man's blood right there," Ser Jory stated backing up into a wall.

"Oh, c'mon man don't puss out on us. Think of it this way. This right here is the wine of the vampires," Daveth laughed as he held fingers in front of his mouth to mimic fangs.

Ser Jory and Riley got a good chuckle out of it before Duncan gravely looked at the three of them. He handed of goblet to Daveth first. Daveth drank as a little bit of blood spilled down the side of his face. Once he had set the goblet down he just grinned and looked around at everyone who were waiting for something to happen to him.

Suddenly he felt dizzy as his eyes rolled into the back of his head causing him to collapse to the ground in a heap. Riley covered her hand over her mouth as she had just realized what had happened to him. The darkspawn blood had killed Daveth. There was no way that she was going to drink that now. But before she could say a word she saw Ser Jory holding his blade up in Duncan's direction refusing to take part in this ritual. He had a wife and baby to get back to. He couldn't risk leaving them behind.

Duncan striked Ser Jory down splatting the blood that coated his blade on the ground. Riley collapsed to her knees as her breath seemed to leave her. She couldn't resist now, she'd die at Duncan's hands. If she drank from the goblet however the blood could kill her as well. There was no way around it. Duncan took the goblet from the table Daveth had set it on and held it in front of Riley's face.

She gulped before she took the goblet. Her reflection in the blood looked back up at her and she knew in that moment that she had no other choice. Shoulders slumped she glanced up at Duncan with a half-assed smile on her face.

"Please watch out for Jaegan if I don't make it through this. Can you promise that for me?" Riley pleaded not wanting to end up dying and leaving the boy all alone.

"I promise. He will be in good hands for the rest of his life with you by his side," Duncan smiled understanding what was going on through her mind at the moment with both people from her group dying.

Riley gripped the goblet and tilted it back putting the cool metal to her lips. Once the blood touched her tongue she felt like vomiting. Her body was telling her that this was not good for her and she was revolted beyond belief. She just swallowed her instinct and pushed through it. She could feel the blood tingling as it slid down her throat and in an instant her eyes began rolling into the back of her head. She felt invigorated; like she could take over the world and no one could stop her. She felt mer magic flowing in and out of her and giving her life.

For a moment it all stopped. The sensation, the world, and her breathing. She yelled at the agonizing pain that split her head open and crumbled to the ground like a marionette doll that had it's strings cut. This was it, this was the end of her life. She accepted death with a warm hug, but something pulled her back. The image of a little boy being chased by a hoard of the dead. An ogre close behind him. She shook her head and ran for him. There was no way she could die now.

Not now, not today, not ever. I'm not going to die that easily. I'm still alive and kicking.

* * *

Her eyes shot open, and eerie blue glow to them. She darted her eyes from one way to the other looking for Jaegan. Finally her eyes landed on a familiar face. Not one that she's known for a long time but one that brought her comfort after waking up from that horrible nightmare.

"You made it, I'm glad," he smiled letting go of her hand that she didn't realize that he had been holding, "I'll let Duncan know that you've woken up."

He moved the tent door flap out of his way as he made his way to find Duncan. She sighed as she flopped back down in the cot. She knew where she was but it still felt unfamiliar. The medical tents that they had tossed together to give the dying and sick men some privacy in their time of weakness. She looked around after she had noticed she had nothing but a nightgown on for something other to wear. Her clothes were folded up neatly on the chair next to her cot with her staff leaning against it. She smiled wondering who would've done that for her.

"How are you feeling, dear?" an elderly lady asked as she made her way into the tent with a dish of cold water and a rag.

"Loads better than I felt last night. I felt so sick to my stomach the entire time," Riley groaned, "but now it seems that I'm starving. It's been awhile since I've eaten anything."

"Here's some bread, dearie. Eat up," she smiled handing her a torn of piece of bread from a loaf that she had sitting on a cutting board on her makeshift desk.

Riley chowed into her food as she could feel her hunger slowly being sated. She sighed in relief as she finished off her piece of bread. Duncan walked through the tent and smiled when he saw Riley sitting her bed. Alistair following close behind not wanting to miss anything that could possibly be important. Duncan made his way over resting his hand on the lady's shoulder before speaking to Riley.

"I'm glad that you made it through the ritual, Riley. I am sorry that the other two weren't as fortunate," Duncan looked down at the ground regretting what he had done the night before, "Ser Jory was a good lad, but once you know how we become Grey Wardens then you're not allowed to leave. If he had gone through with the ritual then there would've been a good chance that he would be like you are right now."

"What are the odds of making it through the Joining Ritual?" Riley questioned a lump in her throat forming making it hard to swallow.

"Only one in four actually survive the ritual, but when Alistair joined two others in his group survived the ritual."

Riley's face grew grim. Her chances had been so slight and no one had thought to inform her. She would've just ran away the day the darkspawn attacked them in the forest and ran for the rest of her life if she had to. She could have died and left Jaegan behind and no one bothered to tell her beforehand.

"That's a really screwed up system."

"Would you have joined if you had known what your chances were? I know that I probably wouldn't have. There would've been no way you could've convinced me to join if I had known."

"I'm sure there are some people out there that would be willing to join if the time called for it."

"You'd be surprised how selfish the people in the real world can be. Many of them would much rather have others do their fighting for them than even set eyes on a weapon."

Defeated Riley shrugged her shoulders swinging her legs out from underneath the blanket and onto the ground. She gave the boys a look telling them to get out because she was going to change. Alistair stood there looking dumbfounded not quite sure what she had meant. Riley simply pulled up her nightgown not really caring if he saw something.

"Oh, oh maker! What are you doing?" Alistair shouted covering his eyes a blush slowly creeping its way onto his cheeks.

"I'm changing obviously. What else would I be doing?" she snickered over her dress that was barely covering her breasts.

"I'll let you get to it then. Maker, you could've told me what you were doing," Alistar complained before exiting the tent. He tripped over his own shoe ending up falling flat on his face outside of the tent resulting in a chuckle from Riley.

Once she had finished undressing, she thanked the lady who looked after her and stepped outside. Alistair and Duncan were waiting for her outside. She laughed looking at Alistair who couldn't even make eye contact with her. Duncan pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and handed it to Riley. When she grabbed it she felt something heavy within it. She unwrapped it and found a beautiful pendant with a griffon wrapped around a red vial.

"What is this?" she asked still admiring the craftsmanship.

"It is an amulet given to every grey warden after they complete their Joining to remind them of the oath that they have made and those who were unable to join the order," Duncan somberly smiled, "the vial there contains some of the blood you consumed during your Joining ritual."

Riley looked at the amulet before looking up to him, "thank you, Duncan. I'll hold onto this until I go to my grave," she smiled as she clipped he amulet on and held it up to show them, "we're like family now right?"

The two men smiled and nodded in agreement. A jumbled up group of misfits who became family.


	9. Ch 09 :: Midnight Terrors

_**Midnight Terrors**_

"The battle will happen tonight," King Cailin stated looking over the map of the area, "the darkspawn horde is expected to be here by nightfall and we need to be prepared for them this time. I will not senselessly loose my men to savage beasts."

"Sir, I highly advise that we withdraw what troops we have and wait until these blasted darkspawn are a bigger threat. There is no need to fight them at the moment," Loghain, Cailin trusted war advisor steps in voicing his opinion.

"Nonsense. The Grey Wardens need our help, and if we shut this down now then we won't have to deal with this later when the problem gets out of hand and we can no longer be in control of the situation."

"As you say, my king."

"I will need two volunteers to go up into the tower to signal Loghain's men to join in the battle once our front line enters."

"We shall send Alistair and Riley. One senior Grey Warden along with a new one. That should do just fine," Duncan suggested.

"Excellent. Now all we need to do is wait for nightfall and then the battle can begin."

The people surrounding the table disbursed to make their preparations for the oncoming battle that was closer than they thought. Riley was terrified. She had never been in a situation where it was a life or death matter. Jaegan was here, in the middle of a battle. She couldn't believe that she had brought him here to experience war first hand. He was just a child.

Riley immediately made way for the tent that she knew Jaegan was going to be in. She sprinted the whole way there without a care for what others may have thought of her. Her only concern in that moment was ensuring that Jaegan was going to be okay when nightfall comes and that he would be able to escape in the case of the mission failing.

She ripped open the front flap on the tent to reveal Jaegan sitting on the cot next to an elderly woman who Riley recognized but was unable to put a name to it. She sighed in relief seeing his beaming grin from behind a book. He was going to be the death of her.

"Jaegan, I'm going to tell you something very important and I really need all of your attention, understand?" Riley spoke as the crouched down next to his cot.

"If you're going to tell me how to take care of myself in case something happens in the battle tonight, then you're too late. Wynne here has already helped me out with that," Jaegan smiled from ear to ear making his ears point out of his hair.

"Is that so?" Riley smiled at the elderly woman with relief written on her face.  
"It was not trouble at all. I saw you enter with him and I wanted to make sure that he knew how to get out of her safely and quietly in case the battle goes south tonight. I have faith that you will be alright seeing as how you are a mage from the tower."

"How did you?"  
"I've seen many things in my lifetime dear, and I find it very easy to determine who is mage and who is not. It's one of my many talents that I have been able to hone over my many years of living."

"I really appreciate all of you help in this. I was worried that if something were to happen to me that Jaegan would not be able to make it out of here on his own. I know that he's very skilled at maneuvering through the forests but in one as lifeless as this on I feel that it might be a little difficult. Wynne, was it?"  
"Yes. I don't believe that I caught your name."

"Riley, Riley Amell."

"Lovely name that is. It has a nice ring to it."  
"Thank you."

Riley nodded her head and made her way out of the tent but not before tousling Jaegans hair. That earned a grumble from the little elven boy who was smiling all the same. She stroked Yevvan's ears who was lying on the ground fast asleep. Not even a horde of darkspawn would wake that dog up once he found a comfortable spot to lay in. Riley waved goodbye to Wynne who went back to listening to the little boy read his book.

Once Riley was out of the tent she could see the sun beginning to set in the distance. She knew that she was going to have to get ready for this battle whether she wanted to fight in it or not. She sighed making her way over in the direction of the quartermaster who she knew she could trade some of her items with for more suitable armor for the upcoming battle.

As she was making her way over there she could feel eyes on her. She turned on her heels and instantly raised her guard only to find a familiar face standing behind her. Alistair the ex-templar was following closely behind her and somehow she was able to sense that he was behind her.

"I know," Alistair grinned with his hands up in defense, "it's strange the first day being able to sense when people are around you, Grey Wardens specifically."

"What are you…?"  
"We're tainted now, and that means that we are able to sense when others who are tainted nearby. Hence why I was unable to sneak up on you and give you a good scaring!"  
"I would highly advise against that seeing as how I almost threw a fireball in your general direction."  
"Point taken. Won't happen again. What exactly is it that you're doing?"

"I don't think that mage robes are really considered 'battle attire.'"

"What do you mean? Maybe you can fight off the darkspawn with the hideous colors and patterns of your robes!"  
"You're hilarious you know that?"  
"Thank you. I actually have been told that quite often."

"Now if you'd excuse me."  
"Hold on. We've got some better armor that won't match that which the quartermaster would sell you."

"What are you talking about?"

"Just follow me."

Riley did as she was told and followed the ex-templar through the camp to a secluded area that was sealed off by a massive stone door. She raised her eyebrows in awe at the magnificent sculptures of griffons standing guard. The statues had to be at least three times her height. Alistair pulled the door open to reveal an armory chalk full of armor and weapons. She wandered through the small room and grazed her fingers over every piece of fabric and metal in complete awe.

"What did—"  
"This is where we've stored all of our Grey Warden armor and weapons for the new recruits that Duncan sent out to get. He had expected to recruit more but I'm afraid that the three of you were the only ones that he was able to get. Pretty much take your pick."

"This is awesome. I never once in my life thought that I'd get to see this kind of weaponry and armor. It's almost like a dream come true!"

Riley looked around the different armor types trying to determine the armor that would be the most suitable for her skills. Her eyes gazed over the heavier armor and the slightly lighter armor and finally came to a decision.

She pulled the armor off of it's stand and held it up to her chest. The shirt was made of a tufted woolier fabric that resembled to blue color of the deepest part of the ocean. The garment stretched well below the buttocks and was covered in metal scaled armor that offered some protection against ranged attacks. The trousers were a solid black color that were paired with a sturdy looking pair of brown leather boots. The gloves and belts matched the color of the boots and were lain across a chest in front of the stand that the armor was on.

Riley looked over to Alistair with a large smile on her face, "I think this is perfect."

"Alrighty, I'll leave you to change. I will be out here if you need anything," Alistair smiled as he closed the door just enough to let some light in so that Riley could still see properly.

Riley wasn't slow about changing into her new garments and she was sure to not forget a single piece of the armor behind. She grinned all the while putting the armor on and was satisfied when she had it all on. She called out to Alistair who slowly opened the door in case she hadn't fully changed yet. She put her hands on her hips and looked to Alistair to confirm whether or not it looked good on her.

Alistair felt his cheeks begin to heat up when he looked at the childish grin that was on Riley's face. He quickly cleared his throat before saying, "I think it looks great. You look like a true Grey Warden now."

"You think so?" Riley beamed spinning in place, "it feels great to be apart of something that I could possibly call family one day."

Alistair cocked his head confused about what she had just said, but simply shrugged it off not wanting to kill her mood. She smiled as she grabbed the clothes she had on before and made her way out of the small room. Alistair was quick to shut the door behind her and followed her to her tent where Jaegan and Yevvan were located. This time would be the last time she would get to see the two before the battle began. The war horns were sounding and Alistair could sense the bloodlust coming in the distance. This would be a battle that would determine the fate of the nation if it goes their way.

* * *

"What do you mean they're not responding? We lit the fire, they should be able to see it," Riley shouted looking out the window of the tower, "oh dear maker, there's a horde. There's no way they'll make it out of this. Or that we'll make it out of this."

"Just calm down. Maybe they're just trying to clear the area before continuing," Alistair attempted to come up with some way that he could justify them not responding to their signal.

"What about Jaegan? Oh man, he's got to be terrified. I need to get to him right now."

Riley began charging for the door when it got slammed open by a horde of darkspawn that came spilling in. There was no way that they were going to be able to get out of this mess. Alistair began swinging his sword at the bowmen in order to rid them of the distance fighters. Riley not paying attention after throwing fireballs had two arrows shot into her right shoulder. She fell back after the impact and the whole world started to grow fuzzy. She could hear Alistair yelling at her from a distance but to no avail she was unable to keep herself awake.


	10. Ch 10 :: The Beginning of the End

_**The Beginning of The End**_

The next morning Riley awoke in a strange room. Her head was splitting as she attempted to sit up in the bed she was lying in. Rubbing her temples she had hoped that that would help ease the pain. She drew in a deep breath trying to regain her composure when she heard a door open. She snapped her head up instantly regretting her decision.

"You're awake. Good. Mother would like to see you," Morrigan, the woman from a few days ago spoke.

"What? How did I get here?" Riley asked trying to push back the migraine that was wishing to take over.

"My mother, of course. She flew you and your warden friend in here last night from the tower. Along with a boy and his mutt who were running in the forest in an attempt to evade the darkspawn horde that surprised everyone at your camp last night."

"Jaegan? He's okay?"

"Yes. Very well, in fact."

"I need to see him," Riley instantly jumped to her feet throwing her shirt and pants back on and completely forgetting about her boots that were at the end of the bed.

Morrigan turned to remind her but she was already out the door. She shrugged her shoulders and followed suit figuring that the girl could grab her boots later. She wasn't going to do her dirty work.

"Riley!" Jaegan shouted running right into her arms. Riley fell to her knees tightly embracing Jaegan as if it was the last moment she would get to see him. She sighed into his shoulder as she felt relief wash over her body knowing that he was safe.

"I was so worried about you last night. How did you escape without even a scratch on your body?" Riley prodded looking over Jaegan for any scrapes or bruises.

"Yevvan and I slipped out the back of the tent because we heard the fighting getting closer. We didn't want to be there when the darkspawn approached. Those things are really scary!"

She smiled at him and ruffled his hair before standing up to see that Alistair was staring at the lake water. She waved to Jaegan who ran back to Yevvan. She made her way over to him and put a hand on his shoulder. He glanced at her not realizing who it was and then shock overcame his expression. He immediately pulled her into a tight hug and not letting go. Riley confusedly hugged him back.

"I—I'm sorry, I'm just really glad that you're alive. None of the other Grey Wardens made it out of the battle yesterday," Alistair looked to the ground with an expressionless face, "not a single one of them."

"What about Duncan?" she softly asked feeling her heart drop into her stomach.

"No. He—he didn't make it either. The king perished on the battlefield as well. That damn Loghain withdrew his men just as the battle was starting. The bastard of a man just— he just…" Alistair heated up but slowly his flame diminished at the thought of all of his friends who became family that he had just lost that night.

Riley was speechless. She had no idea what to think or feel. These people that Alistair thought of as family all died in the most horrible of ways. Betrayed by someone who they thought of as their friend. There was no way for her to even come close to understanding how he was feeling right now. She had no family to speak of that would care for her the way that she was sure Duncan and the other men and women cared for him in the order.

"I'm so sorry Alistair. Is there anything that I can do? Can I help in any way?" she asked resting a hand gingerly on his shoulder.

"No, not really. I'm just going to have to find a way to deal with this. We've got a world to save now, don't we?"

"I—I guess you're right about that. We are the only Grey Wardens left."

"You guys have a world to save," Flemeth said as she approached the two, "and I wish that there was something that I could do to assist you in your efforts, but alas I have nothing to offer."

"You've done enough, Flemeth. You save Alistair, Jaegan and I. We are more grateful to you than you will ever know."

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong. The both of you have an important mission to be on and you're going to need all of the help you can get," Flemeth spoke handing the treaties over to the wardens, "you're going to need these if you're going to be able to muster up an army big enough to assist you in this coming war. Morrigan will be accompanying you along your journey as well, if you'll take her?"

"Mother?!" Morrigan shouted in displeasure, "do I have no say in what I desire to do with my life?"

"Morrigan they will need you when the time is right. For now venture with them and ensure that the wardens are able to fulfill their duties if they'll have you."

"No, no way," Alistair immediately responds, "you can't be serious?"

"I think that we'd love to have you along Morrigan," Riley grinned as she slightly kicked Alistair in the side of his leg.

"Ouch! What was that for?"

"Right now we need all of the people that we can get, and Morrigan is a powerful mage who will definitely come in handy when dealing with enemies."

"Alright, alright. Have it your way."

"Great, let's get a head start before the horde catches up to us. Don't want the darkspawn to kill us all before we can save the world, amiright?"

"I guess this is where we say goodbye mother. I will see you again once this is all over," Morrigan stood tall in an attempt to hide her feelings of sadness of leaving the home that she had known for majority of her life.

With that the four of them make their way in the direction of the closest village to gather supplies and gather info on what has been going on in the outside world after their battle at Ostagar. The two wardens were nervous as to what may happen knowing that the one who betrayed their king and the grey wardens in their dire time of need was telling the world to cover his behind. For all they know any grey warden could be deemed a traitor in the land of Ferelden.


	11. Ch 11 :: Loathing Lothering

_**Loathing Lothering**_

"By the maker, Morrigan. You are a terrible person," Alistair exclaimed as he looked down at the child standing before them who knew not what had happened to his mother, "you expect us just to leave this poor boy all by himself."

"My mother left me by myself in the wilds for weeks. She expected me to learn how to survive because that is how this world works. There is no other way of survival then learning how to fight and find food for yourself," Morrigan blatantly stated crossing her arms in defense as she turned to face Alistair, "I'm sure you're life in the chantry was handed to you on a silver plate of food cooked up for you all nice and warm."

Alistair opened his mouth to retaliate but was interrupted by Riley, "would you both just shut up for a minute? You've been at it since we left Morrigan's home and I'm getting sick and tired of having to hear the two of you bickering at one another constantly. I am going to help this boy whether the both of you agree to it or not."

The two glared daggers at one another while Riley approached the small child asking where he had last seen his mother and if he had any idea where she could be. Once he told her what had happened to the two of them she reached into the pouch strapped to her side and handed the boy three silver coins. He hopped up and down in excitement thanking her as he ran off in another direction. Riley smiled as she watched the boy show the coins to an elderly lady who she had assumed was someone the boy could trust. She felt good on the inside knowing that she had made his life a little easier in the coming hardships.

"Woo hoo, you saved a little boy and his grandmother from starvation. There are animals in the wild they could've hunted if they were truly that desperate," Morrigan mumbled as she turned away in the direction of the forest.

"Seriously? Both of you really need to knock it off or I'll just figure out how to save the world by myself," Riley grumbled as she made her way to the tavern to find a drink to dull her emotions, "Jaegan come on."

Jaegan jumped up from looking in an empty crate he had hoped that he would've found some sort of treasure hiding within. The other two glared at one another before following suit. They had nothing else better to do with their time anyways.

The minute they entered the tavern the entire room that was booming fell silent. The armor Alistair was dressed in gave away who they worked for and from what they could tell is that Loghain has been spreading some pretty nasty rumors about what had actually happened. They all found an empty table to seat themselves at and watched as everyone began whispering to each other.

"Well, don't we feel welcome," Riley scoffed as she glanced over at a group of women who were watching them. The ladies all jumped and averted their gaze instantly.

A tall brooding man clad in the kingsguard armor made his way over to their table and slammed a fist causing Jaegan and Yevvan to jump in surprise. The other three could have cared less at the aggressive action.

"We don't need your kind here," his tone laced with hatred, "you killed our king and people like you should be banished from Ferelden or killed on the spot."

Alistair jumped on his feet ready to retaliate but Riley simply held her hand up telling him to seat himself. She stood up to face this man who approached them in such an aggressive manner. She looked up at the man who stood over two feet taller than her and she saw beads of sweat falling from his brow.

"You king's trusted advisor, Loghain, is the one who got the man killed," Riley simply stated as she crossed her arms over her chest, "he withdrew his troops which allowed the darkspawn to overpower everyone on the battlefield. We saw them retreat from the tower holding the beacon that was to signal them to charge. He fled out of fear for his own life."

"Why you little—" the man cursed as he lifted a hand to strike Riley, but before he could land a blow a delicate arm grasped his wrist putting him to a halt.

"I am sorry sir, but there are women and children in this building. Let's say we take this matter elsewhere?" a woman with fiery red dressed in chantry robes smiled as she slowly let go of his arm.

"Who cares," the guard spat on the floor, "I'm sure that these bloody people have seen far worse living in a dump like this."

Riley groaned at the idiocy of the man that stood before her. She looked to the woman who had prevented her from being stuck and grinned, "you wouldn't dare defy the chantry now would you? Maker knows what would become of you in the afterlife if you defied one of his disciples."

Panic filled the man's features as he looked over her and the unknown woman. He gulped as he turned on his heel expecting the two to follow him. Riley winked at the woman and made her way outside after the man. Her party looked at her with slight shock written all over their faces. They were unsure if they should follow or wait and see what was to happen.

Riley watched as the man withdrew a dagger from his belt causing her to laugh. He grinned as he charged at her without a care of who was watching outside. Riley stepped to the side causing the man to stagger. She grabbed his arm and twisted it behind his back causing him to grunt. Before he was able to retaliate Riley lifted her hand filled with fire and held it close enough to his face to feel the heat.

"You tell Loghain that the Wardens remember what happened at Ostagar, and we will be coming for him shortly," Riley whispered to him before letting him fall to the ground in an attempt to escape the magic that was close to burning his face off.

The man pulled himself up and darted away in the direction of another group of guards. She laughed to herself as she made her way inside ignoring the stares she was getting from the people who had stopped to watch their little dispute.

When she re entered the tavern people stopped their discussions to see who came out victorious in the battle and were startled to see that it wasn't the kingsguard. She made her way over to the table where the mysterious lady still stood next to her party. She saw a grin on Morrigan's face as she knew exactly what Riley had done to win the fight.

"How did you?" Alistair asked sitting in shock.

"Never piss off a mage," Morrigan simply stated answering for Riley. The two shared a smile before Riley looked over to the red haired woman.

"Thank you for playing along, m'dear," Riley smiled, "would it be rude of me to ask for your name?"

"My name is Leliana," she responded with a half smile, "might I ask for yours?"

"People call me Riley, and my friends are Alistair, Morrigan, Jaegan, and Yevvan the mabari."

"Glad to meet you all. I— I know that this might sound strange but might I accompany you on your journey to put an end to the blight that is to come?"

"How did you know that's what we're doing?"

"The maker showed me of course."

"The maker what?"


	12. Ch 12 :: Crazy Sister, Family Killer

_**Crazy Sister, Family Killer**_

" _Glad to meet you all. I— I know that this might sound strange but might I accompany you on your journey to put an end to the blight that is to come?"_

" _How did you know that's what we're doing?"_

" _The maker showed me of course."_

" _The maker what?"_

* * *

"It was in a dream," Leliana smiled at the ground reminiscing, "he showed you to me, and he told me that once I see you that I need to help you on your journey."

Riley wasn't sure what to say so she looked to her party members for help. Morrigan couldn't believe what she was hearing and just laughed it off. Alistair however had a confused look on his face. She thought that he'd be the one person who would think that she was sane in thinking the maker gave her a mission, but he ended up being just as confused as herself.

"Well," Riley started clearing her throat, "if it's okay with my traveling companions then I don't see any harm in having you along for the ride."

Alistair and Morrigan gave her a look wondering why she was allowing a crazy person who thought the maker thought she was special into their group. Riley shot them a glare and smiled at Leliana who was beaming with joy.

"Thank you. You will not regret your decision to have me along," Leliana smiled as she turned to thank the other two as well, "if it's no trouble I'd like to inform the chantry that I'll be leaving with you before we leave. I'd hate for her to think that I just up and disappeared on her."

"By all means," Riley smiled holding her hands up, "we will be here waiting for your return."

Leliana waved to everyone before she made her way out of the tavern. Riley took a seat sighing thinking that she's never going to catch a break traveling with this group. There was going to be no way that she was going to get much sleep at night worrying that the two she was sitting with were going to kill each other in her sleep. She lazily rested her head in her hand before waving one of the waitresses over.

Everyone took their orders, each one consisting of an alcoholic beverage, except for Jaegan who wanted apple juice. The group made small chat on what their plans were next and where they were going to head. They had treaties with the dalish, the circle tower, and the dwarves in Orzammar. In distance to Lothering the circle tower was going to be the closest. They had no idea where the dalish would be camped out besides somewhere in the middle of the forest somewhere.

"So it's decided, we're going to head to the circle tower first," Riley smiled clapping her hands together feeling hope that this journey was going to be as short lived as she had hoped, "then we can make our way to Orzammar and then find the dalish wherever they might be."

"I can help with that!" Jaegan beamed as he nearly jumped on the table from excitement for being able to help the group with something, "I know exactly where one of the camps are or where they were planning on heading next but it is a ways away from here."

"That's wonderful news Jaegan. Hopefully this will help cut our trip in half!"

He smiled as he watched the food make its way over to the table. They all decided to share a platter of chicken with sides of steamed buns. They watched at the food was slowly set down in front of them trying to resist the urge to not dig in with the waitress standing right next to them. Once the waitress gave the cue to start digging in no one hesitated to grab their share of the meal. Everyone realized how hungry they were and practically tore into their food. The food didn't even last a minute on the table in front of them.

As soon as they had finished Leliana made her way in through the entrance with a bag on her shoulder full of her belongings from the Chantry. With how short of time it took her to pack her things and talk to the reverend she could only assume that Leliana was planning on leaving this town before things got too rough to be able to live in anymore. She smiled sitting down next to Alistair who had an open seat on his right.

"Thank you all for allowing me to travel with you. You will not regret it," she looked around at the mismatched group that she became a part of, "where are we headed to after this?"  
"We will be heading towards Redcliffe," Riley sighed as she stretched her arms up above her head.  
Riley stood up heading towards to counter to pay for their food and drink. Once the tab was paid she waved to everyone to follow her outside. Once they walked through the door they all drew in a breath of fresh air after all of the tension they could feel inside the tavern. They were relieved to finally be out of that sort of atmosphere of negative feelings.

"Off we go, I guess," Riley grinned at everyone as she made her way to the end of the village towards a bridge that overlooked the forest encircling the town.

Once they reached the end of the fence they were met by a strange character who was locked in a cage. He didn't appear to be from Ferelden with the stubs that looked like horns that were sticking out from the top of his head. His asking a musky grey tone with hair as white as the winter's snow. There was no way that this person could be a human, elf or dwarf. Riley was uncertain, but slowly approached the cage of the man who was in the midst of meditation.

"What is it that you want human? If you came here to see if the qunari is going to do something interesting then you were mistaken," the man snapped at Riley who hadn't gotten the chance to even utter a word.

"Well don't you have a negative attitude, sir," she huffed as she crossed her arms, "I was just going to ask you how you ended up there, but I honestly don't think I want to know anymore."

"Good."

"' _Good?'_ That's all that you have to say?"

"I simply have nothing to say to you, human. I am trying to meditate before the time comes for my execution."

"Why are you being executed? It had better not be because you don't look like everyone else in Ferelden because by the Maker that'd be really messed up."

"That is not the reason for their decision. They have justly sentenced me for I have committed the worst kind of deed any person can do."

"Oh, I'm sure it wasn't that bad. What did you do? Steal a loaf of bread from the tavern?"

"I murdered an entire family who took me in when I was injured. I awoke the next day and did not recognize my surroundings and snapped. That is why they are executing me."

Silence overcame the whole group who became unsure of what to say in response to what they were just told. Riley looked at this man really trying to see through the wall of armor that he had built over himself and saw that there was more to this story than what he was giving out. There was no way that he had just senselessly killed innocent people just trying to help him. There was another side to the story and she wanted to offer him a chance at redemption for the horrible thing that he had committed. She drew in a big sigh and turned to Leliana.

"Is there any chance that we can convince the reverend to allow this man to travel with us?" Riley asked with an awkward half smile drawn on her face. She had hoped that Leliana would see the plead in the smile and agree to her decision.

Leliana smiled at Riley knowing exactly what she was thinking and without hesitation she made her way in the direction of the Chantry. Riley looked at her other party members to see their reactions and they were as expected. Morrigan could care less because she knew that she had enough power to defend herself if anyone were to try and attack her. Jaegan and Yevvan were off playing in their own world without a care as to what was going on around them. Alistair however looked completely shell-shocked.

"What are you doing?" Alistair asked grabbing her arm and pulling her off to the side so no one else could hear their conversation, "we can't just invite a cold blooded killer into our group? Maker knows what he might do to us when we're out there. He could kill all of us in our sleep and the blight will kill us all."

"More reason for him not to kill us then," Riley smiled up at him, "he's a broken man and I can tell that he seriously regrets what he has done. All you have to do is look him in the eyes and really focus. There's a man in there that is just screaming to be heard. He's built a wall around himself to prevent others from getting hurt."

Alistair pondered for a moment before speaking, "I don't know if I can trust the guy, but I do respect your decision. I will be fine with him tagging along so long as he promises not to try anything fishy."  
Riley beamed as she jumped up to hug him. Her arms wrapped around his neck as she dangled off of him for a moment. Alistair wasn't expecting that sort of reaction and slightly lost his balance. She realized what she was doing and immediately hopped off of him. She brushed off her pants and cleared her throat.

"I— I'm sorry. That won't happen again," her face was beet red as she turned on her heels to go and speak with Jaegan and Yevvan who were playing hide and seek in the tall grass.

He smiled for a moment thinking that she wasn't half bad for a mage with a temperament issue.

* * *

After a while Leliana returned with the key to the cage that the man was in. She handed the key to Riley for she was the one who had decided to release him. Riley made her way back up to the cage and looked into the qunari's eyes that were a light shade of purple with a hint of grey in them.

"I now have the key to your cage," Riley smiled holding the key up to show him.

"I am surprised to think that the priestess willingly parted with it," the qunari spoke in monotone, "So be it. Set me free, and I will follow you against the blight."

"Here goes nothing," Riley stated as she stepped forward to unlock the cage. Once it was unlocked she grabbed the handle and pulled the gate open for the qunari to step into freedom.

"So it is done. I shall find my atonement in helping you fight against the oncoming blight."

"And if I don't lead you down a path of atonement?"  
"Then I will find it another way. However you may see it, I believe that this is the right way."

"So let us off," Riley smiled holding her hand out for the qunari to shake it, then it came on her, "I don't think that I ever caught your name."  
"No, you never asked for it," he stated simply staring at her hand.

Riley lowered her hand, "what might that me?"

"You may call me Sten."

"Sten it is then."  
With that, the party made their way in the direction of the bridge that would lead them to Redcliffe. They first needed to ensure that the Arl was well after hearing some rumors that he was ill and in need of help. Alistair insisted that they head there first.


	13. Ch 13 ::: First Night Nightmares

_**First Night Nightmares**_

Riley shot up in her bedroll and darted her head around looking for any signs of the darkspawn that were attacking her. She sighed in relief when she saw that there were none in sight. She slowly looked around her tent and realized that Jaegan and Yevvan were fast asleep. They hadn't realized that she was having a nightmare about the darkspawn overtaking everyone in the campsite and she was the only one awake to defend them all.

She grabbed a blanket she used to cover herself and peeked out of the tent to see that Alistair was sitting by the campfire sharpening his blade. He didn't notice her leave her tent and sit down next to him until she waved in front of his face. Shock overtook his expression as he sat there wondering where she came from. She picked up the stick lying between the two and began poking at the fire trying to distract her mind from the nightmare she had just experienced.

"I know that look well. Many of the wardens had that look on the night after their joining," setting his blade down to the side with a sense of gentleness he gazed over at Riley, "you had a nightmare that involved darkspawn, didn't you?"  
"How did you—" she was at a loss for words.

"After you consume the darkspawn blood you have this connection to them that nobody will ever understand besides a fellow grey warden. It works both ways, though I don't believe that they ever sleep to be completely honest. Since we're able to sense when they're nearby they're able to do the same for us since we're tainted."

"How come I don't feel the same with you as the darkspawn? I was able to sense you when you tried to scare me back at Ostagar, but I didn't feel threatened like I did when the darkspawn closed in."

"Now that's a question that I can't answer, but thank you for not thinking of me as one of the blood thirsty monsters."  
The two of them laughed at the silliness of their conversation as it dragged out. Riley realized that this is what she needed to stay sane. She was in need of a good friend who could somewhat understand what was going on in her mind. She needed comfort after experiencing everything that she had in the past month. Slowly she glanced over at Alistair to see his eyes warm as he smiled at her, almost admiringly.

"Wh—what? Is there something on my face?" Riley stuttered as she buried her face in the blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

"Nothing at all," Alistair mumbled as he tried to hide the blush rising to his cheeks by returning to sharpening his sword to distract his mind.

The two were acting like children falling in love and not wanting to admit to it because as children they believe that the other has cooties and that's gross. They both regained their composure after a while before they looked up to the sky to admire the stars twinkling above. The two sighed simultaneously causing the couple to look at one another with warm smiles worn on their faces. They both locked eyes before realizing that they just might be falling for one another for a reason they both could not name.

"I suppose I could take over your shift," Riley pulled herself on her feet and unwrapped the blanket from around herself to reveal that she had nothing on besides a tunic that just barely covering the important parts.

"U-um," he stuttered averting his gaze, "you may want to put some pants on before you begin your watch."  
Startled Riley instantly covered her lower half and stormed into the tent without a second thought. She hit her head on her pillow that she grabbed from the head of her cot a couple times punishing herself for letting herself be so exposed in front of another. She grumbled a slur of curse words that were muffled by the pillow. She slowly pulled on a pair of pants in an attempt to not wake the two sleeping in the same tent as herself.

Riley cleared her throat as she stepped out of her tent, "I'm sorry for letting that happen. I had completely forgotten that I didn't have pants on."

"It's alright," Alistair muffled into his hand that was covering his face trying to conceal the blush that had overcome his features, "I didn't see much. It's no worry."

"With the way you're reacting I would say that you've never seen a woman before," Riley snickered as she made her way over to him.

"That is ridiculous! Any sane man would react the way that I had!"

She giggled as she watched him storm off in the direction of his tent. He didn't want to be embarrassed any longer on a topic that he was unfamiliar with. There was no way that he was going to let anyone find out lest be made fun of for the rest of their journey together. He stripped his armor down to his trousers and huffed as he aggressively yanked his sleeping bag over himself. He couldn't help but think about how slender and toned her legs were for having lived in a circle tower her whole life. She looked like she had spent the last few years of her life trying to become a warrior of sorts with how fit she was.

He shook his head trying to rid himself of his inappropriate thoughts about his comrade. This was not the place nor the time to be thinking of things like that. They were in the beginning of a war and they did not have time for idle conversations and such. With that he rolled over onto his back before letting sleep take over his mind. The last thought on his mind was where she got the scar on her leg from that extended from her knee to her upper thigh.


	14. Ch 14 :: Red In Redcliffe

_**Red in Redcliffe**_

"What is going on?!" she exclaimed as her head darted back and forth seeing the dead rising and attacking, "the dead are supposed to stay dead. No form of magic that I am aware of has this kind of power."  
"Oh but that is where you're wrong, Ms. Riley," Morrigan snickered as she blasted one of the dead away with a flick of her staff, "demons possess this sort of magic. Hence why it is untouched by many in the human realm."

"Blasted things," Riley cursed as she mustered up as much magic as she could to deliver one final blow to the dead horde that was storming the chantry.

Flames dances across the field burning only those who it was intended for. The villagers were awestruck as they watched the flames twist and turn around them attacking the dead who were drawing near. The few dead who were untouched fled back from where they came to seek refuge to recuperate for their next attack. Cheers roared throughout the crowd as a few men chased after the dead as a means of scaring them off for good. The people would live another night to lay with their families in these dark times.

"My, my, lady Riley sure knows how to blow a crowd away with her magic," Morrigan smirked as she stepped back away from the oncoming villagers.

"You have saved us! The chantry speaks the truth about magic! It is here to serve us much like you have just done for us!" a villager shouted as he grasped onto his amulet indicating that he was a firm believer of the words of the chantry.

Riley's hand reached up and rubbed at the back of her neck trying not to feel too embarrassed about the public compliment that sent the crowd of villagers wild with cheers to the battle that they had just won. She honestly hadn't expected that spell to work as well as it had. She was worried that some of the villagers would have had slight burns at the least but to her surprise they all came out unscathed. She was washed over with relief when her knees began to buckle.

Alistair noticed and immediately was to her side to hide her exhaustion from the crowd that was cheering her on so happily. A tired grin overcame Riley's features as she glanced at the templar who came to her aid. She pulled together all of the strength that she had left to raise her staff to the air to shoot off one last fireball that dissipated into the sky. The fire sparked in the sky giving it the appearance that there were stars underneath the dreary cloud cover.

The crowd roared as they chanted the warden's name over and over again. This would a night that will never be forgotten by the people in the town of Redcliffe.

* * *

The following morning Riley awoke to the sun shining in through the Chantry window. The sun danced across her features as she rose out of her bed stretching her arms high above her head. She glanced around the room to see that all of her companions have yet to awaken and that she was the only one awake. She smiled as her mabari rolled onto his back with his mouth left agape on the side. She grinned and patted his belly before she pulled herself out of her bedroll. She threw a tunic on over her tank top as she made her way through the chantry halls.

Riley soon discovered shelves upon shelves of literature. She saw novels that she had never seen before in the tower and she couldn't help but pull out one that stood out to look over a few pages. She grinned as she flipped through page after page and couldn't find herself putting the book down once she had started.

"Good book?"

Riley jumped and slammed the book close as she hid the book behind her back as a red blush overcame her features. She was startled to say the least when she saw who it was that surprised her so.

"Bann Teagan, I wasn't expecting you to show up so early in the morning," Riley half smiled trying to hide her embarrassment.

"There's no need to be embarrassed, Riley. Reading isn't a bad thing," Teagan smiled as he plucked a book off of one of the shelves, "this novel is actually one of my favorites. My mother used to read me to sleep with this book."

"She must have been a lovely mother then," Riley somberly smiled as she tried to remember what it was like to have her mother read her to sleep when she was so young.

"She was, indeed. Do you have any fond memories of yours?"

"I have very few to be quite honest. I had only seen her for a few years of my life before I was taken to the circle tower. It's hazy but I do remember that she was absolutely beautiful. I don't believe that I'll ever get to see her again thanks to my father and the whole warden thing now. But I guess I am glad that I have a few memories with her to say the least."

"I'm sure that you get your looks from your mother."

Riley was awestruck at what the Bann had just said to her. The blush that had just subsided seemed to slowly make its way back up to her cheeks. She became flustered as she muttered out jumbles of words in an attempt to respond. She was thankful when she heard one of her party members rousing behind her. She placed the book back on the shelf and bowed her head to the Bann as she made her way back to her party.

"Good morning." Alistair mumbled before a yawn overtook him, "why isn't everyone awake yet?"

"I was trying to catch up on my beauty sleep but you seem to have interrupted it," Morrigan groaned as she threw the mabaris chew toy at Alistair with a load squeak as it struck him.

Jaegan couldn't contain his laughter when he watched everything go down between Alistair and the Mabari pup. The mabari bolted over to Alistair and caught the toy when it bounced in the air above his head. He stood over Alistair drooling all over his face with the toy in his mouth. This commotion awoke Leliana and Sten as they slightly chuckled at the fuss that Alistair was making over the dog being on top of him.

Riley placed her head in her hands thinking to herself that today was going to be a long day with everyone acting this way.


	15. Ch 15 :: Possessing the Possessed

_**Possessing the Possessed**_

"Connor, I'm going to need you to listen to me. You have been possessed by a demon. You haven't done anything wrong and I need you to understand that we are here to help you, not fight against you," Riley calmly stated as she lowered herself to the ground placing her staff in front of her, "see? We're here to help."  
"No," the boy backed away in the direction of a locked door, "you are going to hurt father. I promised that I was going to be the one to help save him from his sickness and you aren't going to get in my way!"

A huge force of power knocked Riley and her party members off of the ground and into a stone brick wall. The impact knocked the wind out of them all as they soon collided with the cold ground beneath them. Grasping for air they watched as Connor forced the locked door open with a flick of his wrist. A maniacal laugh bellowed from the small child as the door slammed behind him.

"Well, that went smoothly," Morrigan grumbled as she peeled herself off of the floor in a graceful manner, "you should've just told the boy that you were here to murder his whole family. At least then we'd have an excuse to kill the uncontrollable little brat."

"Morrigan!" Riley gasped.

"That was uncalled for, and completely inappropriate," Alistair straightened himself, "this is the Arl's son we're speaking of. If anyone of importance heard you mutter those words they would have your head."

"I've gone my whole life with people coming after me. Don't think for a moment that some snooty nobles are going to scare me off," Morrigan scoffed as she gave Alistair a death glare daring him to fight her back.

Alistair bit back his words as he looked to Riley who ushered him to let it go. There was no need for the constant bickering when they were looking for a solution that would result in expelling the demon without killing Connor in the process. There was no need for innocent bloodshed for the mistake of one who was simply trying to help in the situation.

"We need to confront Jowan. He is the one who was overlooking Connor and his magic and somewhere somehow something must have slipped through his watch and caused this to happen. We will get to the bottom of this without killing anyone innocent in the process," Riley proclaimed with a strong front as she plucked her staff off of the ground and made her way to the great hall where Isolde and the other still sane guards were waiting for their return.

Once everyone was able get themselves back together after the events that had just happened they followed suit. Some happier about it than others. There was no turning back on the party members now after having been through a great deal together as it is already. They all watched as Riley knocked on the door to let the others know that they weren't possessed by Connor. The door creaked open to reveal the worried face of Isolde who was relieved to find that he son was no longer in the room with them.

Isolde dropped to the ground in relief as she grasped at her chest for relief, "thank you all for not bringing harm to my son. He does not mean what he says and I promise you that he is a sweet and innocent child."

"We need to speak with Jowan about what happened here," Riley smiled as she reached to help the mother up back onto her feet, "he must have an answer to this mess that he's brought up. I swear he's always having me clean up after his godforsaken messes."

"You know the damned mage?!"

"Yes. We were— friends. This was before I was recruited into the Grey Wardens when I still resided in the circle tower. We drifted apart before I left and I was unaware that he was still alive until today."

The group followed the tower guards back to the jail cells where they entered the castle from. They walked the halls where they had slain the risen dead and the mabari turned bad. They held their breath in an attempt to ignore the stench that was emitting from the bodies strewn across the floor in mounds. There was no masking that smell once it had seeped into the walls of the castle.

Finally they arrived in the jail cells and found Jowan pacing back and forth in his cell likely contemplating an escape plan in case things backfired.

"Hello, Jowan," Riley softly smiled but quickly washed it away not wanting to show her relief for knowing that her friend was alive and well, "do you have any idea what started this mess? I'm sure that Connor was competent enough during your teachings that he wouldn't even consider making a deal with a demon, or am I wrong?"

"No, no, no! I swear that I did everything to teach Connor that demons are bad and that you seriously don't want to get tied up in a deal with one," Jowna proclaimed as he dropped to his knees almost begging for mercy, "please, you have to believe me that I didn't push Connor to do such a thing!"

Everyone in the room looked to Riley for her answer. They knew that she had known the man before and would likely be able to tell if there were lies rolling off of his tongue in order to save himself from a mess he tangled himself up in. The tension in the air grew as Riley pondered what exactly the right thing would be to say in this sort of situation. She didn't want to condemn her friend who she knew has a bad lot at doing something good.

Riley opened her mouth to give her answer, but paused a moment which raised the tension in the room even more than it had been previously. There was no way of knowing what exactly what was going to be said. Even the blood mage had no way of knowing whether or not his longest and dearest friend was going to shut him down to pay him back for what had happened at the circle tower. He had no way of knowing that she would have been recruited and taken into the Grey Wardens. He would've stayed behind and faced the consequences of his actions to make up for all of his wrongdoings that he has done to his friend.

"I believe him."

Relief washed over Jowan's face but only for a moment, "but I know that there is something that you're not telling me Jowan. I'm not sure what it is or if it even pertains to this whole mess of things, but I know that there is something that you want to tell me but are too scared to do so."

"Ri—"

"Would everyone mind stepping out for a minute? I'd like to speak with him in private if that's alright with everyone."

The guards all looked at one another not quite sure what they were supposed to do. They simply shrugged it off and walked out the room. Riley looked to her friends and smiled at them instigating that she wished for them to leave the room as well. All but Alistair walked out the room following the guards. Riley cocked her head to the side wondering what the templar was doing exactly.

"Alistair?"

"I'm not leaving you in here alone with a Blood mage, Riley. No way."

"I've encountered his blood magic before, and survived, Alistair. I think I can handle myself. Please, just for a few minutes can you give me some alone time with him?"

Alistair opened his mouth to protest but was shut down when Riley's innocent look turned into a look of pure irritation. She was not asking, but nicely commanding that he leave the room. Defeated, Alistair drooped his shoulders as he made his way out of the dungeons.

Once Riley was positive that everyone had left and wouldn't be able to hear their conversation she locked eyes with Jowan, "you need to tell me what the hell is going on here, Jowan. No bullshit. Why in the hell would a demon need to possess that kid? He's probably got a lower magic skill than a dog could possess?"

"Maybe something came over him and he was washed with power overnight? I don't know."

"You're not telling the truth and it's really beginning to get on my nerves. You need to tell me what's going on."

"Do you promise that you won't tell anyone?"

"It depends on how bad it is."

"Can you let me be the one to tell them then at least?"  
Riley nodded with a stern look locked on her face.

"Per Loghain's instructions, I poisoned the Arl."

"Jowan!"

"I didn't want to, Riley! It was either poison the Arl or be sent back to the tower where they would've executed me or made me tranquil! What was I supposed to do? I'm not courageous and I'm sure not powerful enough to take on kingsguard. I feel horrible for having done it but I really had no other options."

"You're horrible you know that?"  
"You don't have to tell me that twice. Constantly at the tower I was told that I was incompetent and that I would never learn how to be a proper mage, and here I am now. Master of blood magic and training, well— was training the Arl's son how to hone his magical abilities. I don't think that just anyone would be able to do that."

"Obviously you didn't do that great because the Arl's son is possessed now."

Jowan's mouth sealed shut as he looked to the ground in contemplation. He silently went over the things he's done in his past. He pondered over how he could remedy this situation and it suddenly came to him. He knew what Riley's response would be already but he knew that he would have to give it a shot.

"What if we were able to release Connor from the grasp that the demon holds over him?"

"What are you proposing, Jowan?"

"It involves blood magic—"

"Absolutely not. I've seen what power you hold and I'm not going to allow someone to be sacrificed to save the boy."

"What if it were a willing sacrifice?"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I would be the one to perform the ritual but I'd need someone who loves the boy more than themselves."

"You're not suggesting—"

"Isolde. She is someone who loves Connor and the Arl had no idea that his son possessed magic. She was the one who approached me in the village asking for my services."

"I'd rather find a more capable mage who could help save Connor without having to sacrifice anyone. If they can keep Connor distracted for the time being then that should give us time to reach the tower to seek their aid. In exchange for their help you'll return to the tower to face their judgement."

His face went white thinking of what they'll likely do to him. Either make him tranquil or execute him not wanting to risk something happening again. He knew that he really had no say in the matter regarding his fate due to what he has done. Jowan simply slouched his shoulders and nodded in response. Riley pulled herself up from a kneeling position to make her way to where everyone had stood waiting.

"We're going to the circle tower," Riley stated as she swung the door open to confused faces.


	16. Ch 16 :: Tumbling Towers

_**Tumbling Towers**_

"I will not allow this tower to fall into the hands of wrongdoing," an elderly woman stated holding her staff up in defense, "if your plan is to kill everyone inside then I will fight with every last bit of life that I have left."

"Wynne?" Riley questioned as she could vaguely recognize the mage standing before her, "We're not here to execute anyone. We're here to help. I lived in this tower for most of my life. As much as I would like to watch it fall, I don't wish for anyone to die her unnecessarily."

The stark white haired woman suspiciously eyed Riley pondering if she could trust her words or not. Wynne herself couldn't place where she had seen the woman before but the armor that the woman wore is what helped her figure it out.

"I recall what happened at Ostagar," the woman spoke quietly, "my mages and I withdrew when we saw Loghain take his troops out of the battlefield. I'm surprised that any of you had survived that massacre."

"You're saying that you witnessed what Loghain had done and haven't said a word the the king's wife about it?" Alistair bursted in anger lacing his words, "you could be executed for treason!"

"Who would believe the words of a mage?"

Alistair opened his mouth to speak, but quietly backed down realizing that she was right in the matter. Riley patted his shoulder to consolidate him. He lost a lot in that battle and any mention of it riles him up, for good or bad.

"How can we help remedy this situation here?" Riley smiled at the woman trying to smooth things over.

"We need to take care of the mages who started all of this. It all happened during one of their meetings. I was able to get a handful of people out of there alright but I am afraid that a vast majority of the mages that used to call this place home may be gone forever."  
"We will try and save as many people as we possibly can."

Wynne nodded in Riley's direction before giving careful instructions to a woman that she called Petra on how to care for the children here and what to do if something were to come through and attack them. Petra looked nervous for having been given so much responsibility since she wasn't a full mage yet but she looked determined to ensure the safety of everyone under her wing.

"Let's be off," Wynne stated as she made her way over to the doorway with a etheral blue barrier barricading it. With a wave of her staff the barrier dissipated.

With the barrier gone the screams and shrill cries of demons and people alike could be heard all through the tower. There was a massacre going on and they were diving head first into it. Riley knew that it was too late to back down and she followed Wynne through the door. The rest of her party members seemed hesitant to do so until Morrigan made her way behind Riley. The rest swallowed their fears and decided that they really had no choice in the matter.

In her heart, Riley knew that they would have to save the tower first before saving Connor and the Arl. She knew that this is what had to be done in order to not have to sacrifice anyone. Riley just hoped that the Bann would be able to keep Connor distracted long enough for them to make it back a little bit later than expected.

The group made their way through the winding hallways checking every room for survivors, but on the first floor all that they were able to find were dead men back to life and demons popping out of nowhere. They were able to vanquish them all but were worried that they weren't going to be able to find anyone alive to save from these horrors.

Once they cleared out the first floor they made their way for the door that lead to the second floor. They knew that they would have to find someone up there that somehow is surviving all of this chaos. The minute that they opened the door to the next floor up a barrage of templars charged at them. They attempted to reason with the men but it seemed that their minds had been taken by demons.

Riley began to grow worried for she cared for one specific templar in this tower and she couldn't help what she was feeling inside. Through the halls they were able to locate certain items that were able to assist them in the fights against the demons. Once they made sure that all of the rooms on the floor were clear they came across the last one. First Enchanter Irving's quarters. Riley almost hesitated going in without Irving being present until Morrigan pulled her off to the side.

"I need to ask you a question," Morrigan prodded keeping her voice quiet so that no one else could hear their discussion.

"What is it Morrigan?" Riley raised an eyebrow wondering what she might have to ask at a time like this.

"I believe that my mother's grimoire is on the desk in that room and from the way that you were looking in there it appears that those quarters belong to someone of high ranking," Morrigan whispered, "that grimoire contains spells and rituals that could answer some questions that I've been longing to have the answer to for most of my life."

"So you want us to steal from the first-enchanter?"  
"Yes."  
"If it makes you happy then I suppose there's no issue. Plus, what's he need it for anyways?"

"My thoughts exactly."

Morrigan and Riley made their way back over to the party and told them that the grimoire on Irving's desk once belonged to Morrigan's mother, Flemeth, and that the spells within it might be able to help remedy the situation in the tower. Everyone bought their plan and they were able to get away with taking the grimoire for Morrigan's own research on who her mother really is.

Once they cleared out Irving's room, they made their way for the center of the floor where the entrance for the third floor was located. Within this room there were abominations performing a ritual to turn the tower's tranquil into abominations as well. When the discovered that they were being disrupted they quickly turned around and made their way to attack the intruders.

The abominations were taken down swiftly and they rushed to the side of the tranquil mages. They didn't seemed very phased on what had just happened to them other than very monotone responses on the matter. They quickly began cleaning the room of the goop that was brought in from the fade due to the plethora of demons that spontaneously spawned in the tower. Riley determined that there would be no convincing the tranquils otherwise and decided to push onwards.

Finally they made it the the third floor. One below the final level of the tower where they believed the worse of it to be. Riley was unfamiliar with the layout of this floor since full-fledged mages and templars were the only ones permitted to enter this level of the tower. She tried her hardest to ensure everyone that she knew where she was going, but Wynne was the one who ultimately led the way.

They came across a templar whose mind was enraptured by a desire demon who refused to let him go without a fight. They were forced to kill the man for fear that he would end up dead in the hands of the demon anyways. They cleared every room on the level and we left with the final room in the center. They approached the door and a sudden feeling of exhaustion overcame them all.

Riley pried the door open to see a demon standing over the body of a mage that she vaguely recognized from her time in the tower. She approached the demon with her staff at the ready. The demon simply laughed at her attempt to shut him down. The demon reached a hand out and brushed it down her face and soon sleep took over everyone in the room.

* * *

For a moment a white light flashed in front of Riley before her vision registered where she was. She was standing in a large hallway ridden with grass growing in between the stone brick floors. Moss covered the columns that held up the ceiling that had fallen to pieces that let rays of sunlight to shine in and provide light in the room. She could see a man standing at the end of the long hallway at the top of a staircase that appeared to be barely holding itself together.

Slowly Riley made her way in the direction of the man unsure of what was going on. She couldn't recall what exactly was going on and it was beginning to irritate her to no end. Once she reached the bottom of the stairs she began to recall who this man was. It was Duncan. He was clad in the Warden Commander armor that she had remembered seeing him wear when he recruited her from the circle tower.

With a smile on her face she ran up to Duncan thinking that he had some good news to tell her about what was going on. Once she got closer to him she felt that something was off. There was something about where she was that was confusing her and causing her not to trust her surroundings. She slowed her pace and approached Duncan with caution.

"What is going on here? What is this place?" Riley began throwing questions at Duncan without giving him a chance to answer in between them.

"Calm down, child. We're in Ostagar. We won the battle against the darkspawn and now we're due to celebrate this with the king just outside. There is no need to fear the darkspawn any longer," Duncan reassured her with a grin hidden underneath his full beard.

"This doesn't feel right. You told me that the darkspawn will always be a threat regardless if there is a blight or not," Riley backed up a foot, "what have you done with Duncan?"  
"What are you talking about child? There is nothing wrong and we are at peace for once."

"This isn't right. You're not Duncan and I demand answers!"

"Insolent fool. You could have remained happy here and would've never had to worry about the blight. Are you sure that you want to proceed?"

"There's no way in hell that I am going to stay here willingly. If you think I am a fool then you a strongly mistaken. I will get out of here whether you want me to or not."

With those words spoken from Riley the Grey Wardens surrounding began attacking from out of nowhere. Riley dodges every attack with skill and readies up her mana in order to take them all out in one blow. She crouches down and launches a fireball from her staff that exploded when it made contact with the closest warden to her. The flames danced around the wardens that showed their true demonic selves underneath.

Once the flames had dissipated she could see a pedestal rising from the ground behind where Duncan had once stood and she slowly approached it. On the pedestal she noticed that there was a symbol that she had recognized from one of the books she had read in the tower about the demon sloth. She recalled that in the book it mentioned that if this symbol were ever to show up when you visit the fade in the night then you were doomed for an eternity.

"I've gotta figure out how to get the hell out of here," Riley cursed to herself as she placed a finger on the glowing light directly underneath the light that indicated she was located at.


	17. Ch 17 :: Fear Strikes the Fade

_**Fear Strikes the Fade**_

Once the light dissipated from her vision she found herself face to face with another who she couldn't put a name to. She rubbed her eyes to be rid of the light that continued to cloud her vision. Her eyes flew open when she felt the presence approach her and she jumped back a foot in defense. She held her hand up with a fireball ready to launch.

"It's you!" the man shouted with relief lacing his words.

"Who are you?" Riley asked unsure if she could trust the man after her last encounter in the fade.

"I am Niall. I was a mage in the circle tower much like yourself."

"I think I remember seeing you in the tower. We met in the library when you were having a heated discussion with another mage."

"I see your memory doesn't fail you."

"Where are we, and what on earth is with this place?"  
"Currently we are in the fade. Controlled by the sloth demon of course. He's trapped us here to help keep us happy and content as he feeds on our life forces."

"That would explain why I was relieved to see Duncan who told me that the darkspawn threat was gone entirely," Riley mumbled as she chewed on her thumbnail in contemplation, "any idea on how to get out of this place?"  
"All I know is that each island has a demon on it that needs to be defeated in order to unlock the next level. There is a catch however."

"A catch?"  
"The ways to reach each demon is defended to a point that no human could ever reach them. You'd need to transform into something other than yourself to survive that far."  
"Kind of like when I did my Harrowing…"  
"What was that?"

"Nothing. I am going to figure this out one way or another. I need to get out of here and back to Redcliffe as soon as possible."  
"I've tried all that I can and I was let down by not being able to get anywhere. I will wait here and think of another possible way."  
"Suit yourself."  
With that Riley walked around and was able to locate a portal swirling the color purple in vicious was no way for Riley to know if this would be the end of her or if there was going to be an answer to her troubles on the other side. She reached a hand in and was able to feel a change in temperature on the other side. Riley swallowed her fear and forced herself the rest of the way through.

She made her way through the winding trails of the fade to come across what appeared to be rage demons attempting to corner a small defenseless mouse. Riley made quick work of the demons as she made her way over to ensure that the mouse was alright. Once she approached the mouse began speaking to her.

"What— how are you able to talk?" Riley questioned as she kept her defenses heightened for fear that it might be a trick.

"Be not afraid. I am only here to help. Since you have helped me then I will help you in return. Take my knowledge and use it wisely for it will help you get back to your reality," the small mouse spoke cryptically as his body began to glow.

Riley was still on her guard as she watched the mouse float up into the air in a little ball of light until he became nothing. She felt relief wash over her along with a sudden craving for cheese. She felt like there was a spell that she needed to cast and without thinking she chanted the words for the spell that she's never learned. In an instant she shrunk from her height of 5'3" down to a measly three inches tall.

Shocked Riley hopped back and was unsure of how to handle walking on four paws since she's never done it before. She moved around in circles for a little bit trying to figure out how to maneuver in her new form until she was finally able to grasp it. When she was doing so she noticed a hole that she would be able to fit in. Slowly she approached the hole and decided that she would have to figure out how to get out of here somehow since the portal closed behind her.

Once she entered the hole she could see a light at the end and she darted through the tunnel and made her way to the other side. She slowly crawled up to the exit to make sure that there was nothing waiting to attack her on the other side. Riley made sure that the coast was clear before exiting the tunnel. When she exited she chanted the same words in her mind and in an instant she was back to her normal self. She followed the path that was laid out before her and made sure to keep her guard up in case of a surprise attack.

Riley could see another portal at the end of the trail and she began to pick up her pace. She ran for the portal but was stopped by three demons guarding the exit. She quickly cast spells that she knew would take the demons out quickly so that she would be able to hurry her way through this maze of the fade. The demons all froze in place with her spell and she was able to take them out with one last blow instantly.

She ran for the portal and once she made it through Riley was able to hear a voice that she recognized. The sound of the voice guided her to the same place where she encountered Niall for the first time in the fade. She saw him pacing back and forth speaking to himself. She smiled and waved to him as he came to a stop as he saw her approaching. He raised his brown noticing that something seemed different about her.

"What happened while you were gone? You seem different now," Niall asked once she came to a stop in front of him.

"Well, I became a mouse," Riley simply stated shrugging her shoulders.

"That must have been odd. I couldn't imagine doing something like that."  
"I didn't either to be completely honest with you. But now I've got to figure out how to find these demons that are the key to our escape. Do you think it's possible that my friends are in here as well?"

"It is possible I believe. They must all be on separate islands since I have yet to encounter anyone thus far, besides yourself."

"I'll see if I can locate them, but for now my main priority is getting out of here in one piece."  
After Niall wished her good luck she was able to finally get a move on her efforts to escape the fade. She made her way over to the pedestal where she selected a new island to transport herself to. She landed herself on the island that was named the Templar's Nightmare. She skillfully maneuvered through the floor by staying in her mouse form to prevent detection from the demons that crawled the floors of the level she was on. When she was noticed she would attempt to escape through the mouse holes scattered on the map in order to prevent unnecessary fighting with the demons.

She came through on mouse hole however, and was met with a templar who was defending himself from inflamed darkspawn attacking him. She quickly transformed herself back into her regular form and made sure to bring up an ice attack to take out the burning darkspawn. Once the darkspawn were dead and gone the templar turned to her with relief written on his face.

"Thank you! Thank you! I can now rest in peace," the templar shouted to her her, "take this ability for it will help you on your journey."

As the man began fading into nothing she suddenly felt the same urge as she had when she was speaking with the mouse from earlier. She had learned how to transform into another form. She immediately began chanting the words learned to discover what this new ability was that she had gained. A light enveloped her as she morphed into her new form of a burning corpse. She jumped in surprise thinking that she was going to be burned to death but it appeared that the new form she took on was immune to it.

She evaluated the room for a way to reach the demon of the island, and she was able to locate a door in the farthest corner of the room. Riley ran up to the door and went to push it open when she realized that it was barricaded. Cursing to herself she looked for another way out and was surprised to see that one of the pedestals had popped up. She made her way over to the pedestal and decided to give another island a try seeing as how she was going to need something big and heavy to get through that door with no issues.

After looking over the different islands on the pedestal she decided that she would attempt to take on the island named Mages Asunder. The name of the island prevented her from going there first, but the difficulty that she faces in the Templar's Nightmare she was sure that she wouldn't find it to be very difficult.

Once on the island she was met in a room that closely resembled the rooms that she was used to seeing the in circle tower. She knew her way around this place and was easily able to maneuver through the hallways in her mouse form. She was grinning the whole way through avoiding the enemies that lurked about until she came upon a portal door that she knew would lead her to the other side of the hallway if she were in the regular tower. She groaned as she made her way to enter the portal knowing full well that it was likely going to transport her somewhere she didn't want to be.

Riley was met with the sight of an Ogre filling most of her vision. She backed up as far as she could against the wall without being detected and thought out a plan to escape from the room. Her eyes darted from one corner of the room to the other in a panic when her eyes landed on a mouse hole. She screamed in victory in her mind and slowly began approaching the mouse hole.

One step at a time was all she could manage under the gaze of the ogre. He was watching her every move wondering what she was and why this object was crawling along the wall of the room. Suddenly Riley let out a squeak when she stepped on a sharp rock that caused her paw to start bleeding. The ogre let out a blood-curdling roar as it began charging at her. Riley knew that in the state she was in now that she needed to get moving.

She began running for the mouse hole as he life depended on making it in there in one piece. Her mind was drawn blank and she could only think about the small black hole that seemed to be growing farther and farther away as the ogre grew closer. Her legs were screaming from running as hard as she was to make it there in time.

Riley reached the entrance of the mouse hole and began to slow down in case there was something in there that she wouldn't want to face any more than the ogre when she felt a searing pain ripple through her body. She turned her head around to see that the ogre had placed a finger on her tail trapping her in her place. She felt a shadow cast over her when she realized that the ogre had lifted his free hand to bring down ontop of her.

The only thing that Riley could think of doing in that moment was biting her tail off to escape death and that's what she did. The pain was worse than before and she was able to escape in time to get inside the mouse hole and away from the ogre. Once she knew that the ogre wouldn't be able to reach her in the mouse hole she collapsed on the ground in a heap. She was panting as if she had spent the last hour drowning and gasping for air.

Once she was able to recuperate herself and ensure that she wasn't going to bleed to death from her injury she made her way to the end of the tunnel. She scoped the area of the room that she was about to enter and realized that there was an arcane horror lurking in the room. She cursed to herself as she decided that she was going to have to handle fighting something at some point. She hopped out of the tunnel and transformed herself back into her usual form and immediately launched an attack on the arcane horror.

Her sneak attack threw the arcane horror and she was able to take the demon out in a few magic attacks. The demon was unable to defend itself as she threw attack after attack on the demon until she was able to take it out completely. Once she knew for sure that the demon was dead she made her way over to a wall and leaned against it. She slowly slid down the wall into a seated position as she evaluated her condition.

After biting her tail off in her mouse form she notices that her right hip was beginning to sting. Slowly she slid her boot off and tugged at her pants. She couldn't see exactly what the wound looked like, but it was at the base of her tailbone where the bleeding was coming from. She knew that doing that would cause her harm regardless of what form she took and now she would have to face the consequences of her actions. However, she was grateful that this is all the damage it caused compared to the latter in which she would have been killed by the ogre who was seconds away from crushing her.


	18. Ch 18 :: A Breath Away From Giving Up

A Breath Away from Giving Up

Riley first made sure that she wasn't going to bleed out in the fade before continuing on her journey to escape. Once she ensured that she was going to be alright moving forward she pulled herself up off the ground. Wiping her brow she pushed onward using her staff to hold her upright for the time being. She made sure to search the area in an attempt to prevent any more unwanted fights to happen when she really couldn't afford to fight in one.

She weaved through the hallways without being detected as she tried to make it to the final level on the island of winding hallways crawling with demons. Riley made it to the end of the hallway where she was met with another portal and she groaned when her only other option was to fight another demon in order to avoid being sent back to the beginning. She quickly pulled herself together and launched herself in the room where the demon resided. She used up the last of her mana on an attack that took the demon out in one blow.

Washed with relief Riley dropped to the ground in a heap. She was exhausted going through this by herself. She was unsure on whether or not she was going to make it out alive. That's when it hit her. The faces of everyone she cared for flashed in front of her eyes.

Jaegan was the first face that came to mind, followed by Yevvan, Morrigan, Leliana, Sten, Jowan, and the last one that popped into her mind was that of the ex-templar, Alistair. She couldn't shake the image of him out of her mind as she began pulling her strength together. His eyes were smiling at her that were paired with the goofy grin that she always seemed to see him wearing. For a moment she thought that she could hear his voice calling out to her to keep moving forward.

Riley thought to herself that she needed to make it out of here alive for the sake of everyone that she had grown to care for. These people depended on her and she needed to make sure that they all survive the war that is currently at bay. She used all of her strength to get her legs standing straight and made her way to the nearest entrance to a floor on this island she had yet to discover.

Riley weaved her way in and out of rooms and through the hallways until she came across a room full of mages attacking a single man. She rushed in and made quick work of all those who singled out one person. Once she wiped out all of the mages the man approached her with joy coating the grin he wore on his face.

"Thank you, thank you! You have saved me, and now I can move on in peace," the man grasped her hands, "please, take this power for it will help you on your journey."  
Riley could feel his powers moving over into her as he faded away into a blissful nothing. This feeling that overcame her washed relief through her as she made an effort to transform into this new power she had been gifted. Once she finished chanting the words a white light enveloped her as she became an oversized figure that closely resembled a statue. She was surprised to say the least at the drastic height difference between her regular self and the new form she had taken. It took her a moment to fully comprehend that she had in fact become a golem.

She shrugged it off knowing that she was eating time away in the fade and made her way over to a door that was heavily barricaded. She stomped on the ground cracking it into pieces to get a boulder large enough to break the door down. She grabbed the largest hunk of rock and hurled it in the direction of the door. The rock shattered the door and she was met with a few mages who instantly began attacking her.

With her fist she crushed the mages who came to attack her and easily made her way to the other side of the room. Once she reached the other door she realized that it was barricaded just as the other one was. She knocked the door down like she had done previously and made her way through the maze that followed.

Riley was met with other golems who attacked her regardless of her being a golem as well. She was able to take them out with a little more effort than the mages took, and continued to fight on. She pushed through the maze and was met with a door that looked different than the ones she had encountered before. Excitement began running through her body as she knew that this was the room that belonged to the demon of this island. Without a second thought the charged the door and knocked it down in an instant.

She was met with a demon who was enraged to see that she entered their lair. A blood curdling roar escaped the demons lungs as it charged her. Riley was quick to dodge the demons attack aimed for her and smashed her fist down grazing the demons side. It howled in pain as it lunged at her again. Riley hissed at the pain caused by the demon and continued to smash her fists into the ground in hopes of hitting the demon.

Their fight continued for what seemed like an eternity, but Riley was finally able to take the demon out. Once she was sure that the demon was in fact dead she transformed back into her human form without a second thought. She dropped to her knees trying to catch her breath again, but to her it seemed like these islands were going to take forever to get through if she was going at it alone. She knew that Niall would be of no help because he hadn't unlocked any other powers required to get through the islands safely.

She pulled herself together and made her way to the pedestal that was waiting for her in the middle of the room. The pedestal showed a symbol on the island that she was located on showing that she had defeated the demon. She decided to go back to the templars nightmare island to finish what she had started. She selected the island and was transported back onto the island in the room where she had saved the burning templar.

She knew that she was going to have to use her golem form to get through the door and immediately transformed herself. Once she reached the door she quickly took it down along with the enemies in the following room who instantly came after her. She made her way through the rooms and the maze that led up to the demon's lair. She made quick work of the door and was face to face with a desire demon that called herself Vereveel.

The demon transformed into a mouse and darted into a nearby mouse hole teasing Riley the whole way. Riley quickly transformed into her mouse form and followed suit. Once she made her way through the hole and into the room Vereveel began attacking her. Riley dodged the attacks thrown at her from Vereveel and quickly launched a frost spell at her. Vereveel became frozen in place when Riley transformed into her golem form and smashed the demon to pieces.

Riley was proud of the quick work she made of the second demon that she faced and walked over to the pedestal that was awaiting her arrival. Placing a hand on the pedestal Riley noticed that a new island became available. She selected the island and was instantly transported to it.

The island she landed on looked similar to the island called the raw fade. She wandered around until she could faintly hear a familiar voice bickering with an elderly woman. Riley continued weaving her way through the odd terrain of the fade to discover whose voice it was that she was hearing. She was relieved to see that it was her friend Morrigan who was speaking with another woman who she felt that she had seen before.

"Morrigan!" Riley shouted as she picked up her pace to reach her friend quicker.

"For once I am actually glad to see someone living," Morrigan sighed before turning back to the woman she was speaking with previously.

"Are you alright? Do you know what's going on?" Riley began spitting questions out at Morrigan expecting her to be able to answer every one.

"Yes, I am alright. There is no need for you to worry," Morrigan laughed at her concern, "I'm unsure as to whether or not you've met this woman. She looks fairly similar to me because she is what I'd always imagined what my sister would've looked like if I ever had one."

"Morrigan, I—"

"I know, Riley. We are in the fade and the woman that I am seeing right now is a demon disguising itself as her. I've been to the fade before, and I know what to expect from it."

Riley opened her mouth to speak again, but was stopped when Morrigan pushed herself off of the rock she was sitting on next to her sister. Morrigan turned around and faced her sister with a nod of her head her sister morphed into a demon. With a flick of her wrist she was able to explode the demon without any effort at all.

"Let's get a move on shall we—" Morrigan began but was stopped when she was suddenly wrapped in a white light that slowly started getting brighter.

Riley reached for her friend but she was too late, and Morrigan disappeared without so much as a trace. Riley was distraught at the sight of her friend disappearing. She cursed to herself for letting her friend slip away so easily.

Once she was able to compose herself she began making her way to the pedestal that brought her to this island. She quickly picked another island disregarding the name and pushed onward. She had a feeling that there was something bigger going on here than she realized and she needed to figure out what exactly it was that she was dealing with.

* * *

She realized that she was on the island called Darkspawn Invasion when she was swarmed by a horde of genlocks and hurlocks the instant she transported on the island. She made it all the way through taking down every enemy with ease. She came across the final door that led to the demon that controlled this island. She knocked the door down in her golem form and pushed onward.

Riley was shocked to say the least when she came face to face with an ogre. The ogre closely resembled the one that they took down in the tower at Ostagar. The memories of the fallen comrades filled her mind and she was overcome with rage. With all of her might she charged the ogre in her golem form and knocked the beast down. She roared in anger and began throwing punches at it left and right as she sat on top of the ogre.

Exhaustion suddenly overcame her when she had realized what she had done to the ogre. The beast was bloody and beaten to a pulp when she peeled herself off of its body. She morphed back into her regular self and she propped herself up against the wall for support. All of the fighting that she has done was beginning to take it's toll on her. Relief washed over her once she realized that she was safe to relax and recuperate herself for a moment.

The pedestal appeared in the center of the room and she dragged herself over to it. Riley used the pedestal to keep herself upright when she realized that another island became unlocked. She placed her finger on the new island and was shocked to see the familiar face that hadn't left the back of her mind since she got there.

Alistair stood only a short distance away from her as she collapsed to her knees. He had that same look on his face that she had pictured in her mind. Her vision became blurry as tears of relief pooled in her eyes. They threatened to fall but she quickly stopped them when she wiped them away with her sleeve. She couldn't explain how happy she was to see him. However, she couldn't understand why she felt this way for him and not Morrigan who she had seen moments before.


	19. Ch 19 :: The Final Door

The Final Door

Once Riley was able to compose herself she made her way over to the ex-templar that was beginning to drive her insane. She was smiling the entire distance that was between the two of them until she realized that he was speaking with a man who she couldn't recall if she had ever seen before. The man looked very much like Alistair, but she couldn't understand why that was. His golden hair that reached just below the shoulders closely resembled that of their fallen king Cailin. His complexion was lighter than Alistair's, but was still very similar. It wasn't until the man turned to face her that she could see the same golden brown eyes that she knew so well. His chin was covered in a bush of golden hair that was neatly taken care of.

Unease crawled through her as she was recalling the encounter she had with Morrigan and her 'mother.' Instantly Riley's guard went up as she approached the two of them speaking together.

"Riley! It's so good to see you!" Alistair exclaimed with a huge smile on his face, "this is my father, Maric Theirin."

"Pleasure," Riley made a small curtsey to the man whom Alistair called father, "Alistair, I need to speak with you in private. It's very urgent."

The blonde haired man nodded his head in her direction in response. He didn't say a word to her, and Riley was unsure if the man could tell that she knew that he was in fact a demon or not. Still, she kept her guard up high and looked to Alistair for a response.

"Why not share it with the both of us?" Alistair grinned, "I've got nothing to hide from my father, the king."  
Riley opened her mouth to speak but quietly closed it shut to think about how she could get Alistair away from the demon without having him hate her in return. Suddenly it popped in her mind, "it's in regards to the wardens, and it can't be discussed with anyone."

Alistair furrowed his brow as he looked to Riley, "alright, fine. Please, excuse me father. I will return shortly."  
Once Riley was certain that the demon wasn't within earshot she pulled Alistair close and began whispering in his ear, "Alistair, this isn't a reality. You're in the fade and nothing that you're seeing right now is real. Your father isn't the previous king of Ferelden."

"Yes he is!" Alistair nearly shouted in total shock, "I thought that you of all people would understand that. I am the bastard son of a king, and you just want to throw insults my way!"  
"What are you—"

"I will hear no more of it! Riley, I forbid you from speaking to me."

"Alistair, I want you to think long and hard about how you got here and why your 'father' is still alive when he's been reported dead for the past 5 years? It just doesn't add up Alistair, and I really need you to trust me on this."

"Alright, I will think about it."  
With that Alistair lifted his hand to rub his chin in contemplation. He went over the past event's but to his surprise he was unable to recall what had happened to him. Confusion took over his mind as he tried his hardest to remember, but was unable to.

"I— I can't remember how I came to be here," Alistair looked to Riley in shock, "what on earth?"  
"Alistair, come here," the king spoke in a deep voice that echoed throughout the fade, "I need to speak with you, son."  
"I don't believe that I can trust him any longer, Riley."

"Then stand and fight with me against him," Riley spoke plainly as she readied her staff to attack the demon posing as the former king of Ferelden, King Maric.

Alistair was confused as to whether or not it was right to attack his own father or to just side with him. Something deep within him was screaming that he should believe what Riley was telling him. He swallowed his doubts about taking on his father and drew his blade and readied his shield.

King Maric lifted his arms out from his sides and threw his head back in a maniacal laughter. Alistair was terrified of what the king was morphing into. His arms grew and bent in ways that no human would be able to. His eyes blackened and the once golden hair became black and twisted itself into horns that rested on top of his head. The demon that had once been King Maric had now shown its true colors. The two wardens were about to take on their first Pride demon.

Alistair and Riley nodded to one another knowing their plan of action. He charged the pride demon dodging the lightning whips that the demon was using to attack Alistair at a distance. He slid to his knees and sliced at the demons ankles earning a eardrum shattering howl from the demon. Riley was quick to use her caging prison spell to pull the demons feet together to throw it off balance.

The pride demon clashed with the ground with a loud thud and roared in pain. Alistair jumped to his feet and charged at the demon. He came to a halt when he reached the demon's chest. He lifted his sword high above his head and thrusted it down with all of his strength. His blade pierced the demon's chest, and the demon grew quiet.

Riley rushed up to Alistair's side immediately clinging to his arm. Alistair looked down at his fellow warden confused at what she was doing. Suddenly, he was beginning to see a glowing white light surround him. His looked down at his hands realizing that they were beginning to disappear.

"What's going on?" Alistair asked as his feet slowly lifted off of the ground.

"I'm not letting you go like Morrigan did," Riley cried out as tears streaked down her cheeks, "I can't fight by myself any longer. I need someone here with me."

"I— Riley," Alistair began but was washed away in the light that pulled him away.

Riley collapsed to the ground in a heap when she realized that she was alone again. She was going to have to fight the rest of the way through the fade by herself. Fear began rising in her heart once she realized that there was nothing she could do to keep her friends with her until she reached the end of her journey in the fade.

After Riley was able to pull herself together she brushed away the tears that stained her cheeks and made her way in the direction of the pedestal to take out the last three islands to unlock the final one. She shoved her finger on the Burning Tower island and was teleported instantly into the room. She moved through the halls and defeated the enemies simply by flicking her finger to cast a spell on them.

Majority of her journey through this island was done as the burning man form because nearly every room was covered in flames. She made quick work on getting to the end of the level and reaching the demon's lair. In that final room she encountered the demon names Rhagos, a rage demon who was very pissed off to see someone enter. He roared as he approached Riley who wore a stone face unwavered by his anger.

Riley lifted her hand and cast a frost spell on the demon and used a caged prison to tear the demon apart. She was pushing her emotions out of the way to protect her mind from breaking again after having been alone for so long with the constant fighting. Once she reached the pedestal she saw that a new island had been unlocked. She knew one of her friends were going to be there just like Alistair and Morrigan.

She went to that island and realized that Wynne was there. She was sitting on a rock with a book in her hand with young children sitting in a circle around her with smiles glued on their faces. Wynne was quiety reading a passage from the novel when she saw Riley approaching. Riley wanted to just take out the demons, but she knew if she had done that first without talking to her there would be unwanted tension between the two of them.

"Wynne," Riley cleared her throat, "I need you to listen to me, and trust what I have to say."

"Whatever could it be that's troubling you, dear?" Wynne asked with genuine concern lacing her voice.

"I want you to think hard about how you got here and what you were doing before this."

"Well, I was simply—" Wynne stopped herself mid-sentence when she realized that she could not recollect how she had come to be in her current situation, "you know, now that I think about it I can't recall what I was doing prior to this."

"We were in the Circle tower trying to take down the blood mages that took over it, Wynne. We're in the fade right now and we need to get out before we can no longer return to the world of the living."  
"I can't help but feel that I can trust you though I don't know why you would say such things about the circle."

"Wynne! Read more to us! Please!" one of the elven mages shouted to her innocently, "we want to hear the rest of the story."

Wynne looked down at the novel she was reading to the children when she realized what it was she was reading to the children. She noticed that she was reading her own story and the part she had reached was explaining the situation she was currently in exact detail. The words that Riley spoke were clearly written in the novel. She threw the book to the side and stood up quickly out of fear.

"What in the maker's name is going on here?" Wynne gasped.

"We're not going to let you go that easily," one of the children demonically laughed as they morphed into a shade demon. The other children followed suit and the two were soon surrounded by demons.

The two mages fought off the demons that once appeared to be the mages who were Wynne's students. Wynne was crying the whole time they were taking down the demons for she still saw them as her students who had been simply possessed by demons. The two took down the last demon together and were out of breath and mana by the end of the fight.

"I'll see you once I finally figure out how to get out of here, Wynne," Riley panted.

"What—" Wynne began but was unable to finish her sentence when she faded away just as Morrigan and Alistair had.

Riley paced around waiting for her strength to come back to her. When she was able to move around without it causing her to feel like she was going to pass out she made her way back to the pedestal that brought her there. She selected the island she started this journey on where she knew that Niall would be waiting for her.

Niall looked relieved to see her face when she arrived, and began to speak, "I'm glad that you're alright. You've been gone a long time."

"Tell me about it," Riley sighed as she saw where she was going to have to go to defeat the demon on the final island that will unlock the last location before she can free herself from the torture it's been causing her, "one more to go until the last one."

Concern came over Niall's face as he made his way to console Riley, but he was too late. Riley had already transformed herself into a new form that Niall had yet to see. She became a ghost that maneuvered slowly across the ground and disappeared into thin air. Not much surprised Niall at this point after having been trapped in this world for what seemed like an eternity.

Riley appeared in the new location where a desire demon was waiting to take her on. She noticed that a rage demon was hiding and waiting to attack once she had been weakened. What the two demons didn't know was that Riley was tired of it all and wasn't looking to elongate a fight whatsoever. She was there to take down anything that stood in her way of getting out of the fade.

She was able to take out the two demons with little effort in her form. She was able to suck up their life forces with a wave of her hand and defeat them easily. Once she knew that the area had been cleared she turned around and exited the same way that she came in.

Riley immediately changed her form when she saw Niall standing where she remembered she left him shell-shocked. He wasn't moving as he watched her make her way to the pedestal to finally reach the end of the maze that the fade had been.

"Wait," Niall shouted as he reached to grasp Riley's arm, "is everything alright? You seriously seem out of it."  
"I've been by myself, fighting by myself, and trying to save my friends from fading into nothing and for what?" Riley asked herself as tears threatened to fall from her eyes as she looked to Niall, "this has been a horrible journey that I don't even know if it will get us all out of here alive. Ferelden is depending on Alistair and I since we are the only Grey Wardens. If we fall here, then the rest of the world will be destroyed along with it."

"Riley," Niall pulled her closer to him with both of his hands gripping her arms, "you will make it out of here alive. All of the fighting that you have done will not be for nothing. I remember seeing you in the tower and always wondering what would become of you. You've become something that many mages will never get the chance to do."

"It really sucks having so much responsibilities and being expected to harbor everyone's burdens without worrying about my own. Maybe I should just stay here. I could be happy until the demons here suck my life force dry. Then it won't matter as much."

"You've come this far and now you're going to give up, just like that?"

"Maybe, I don't know."

"I won't let that happen. You are going to go to that final island and you are going to take down the demon that is holding you hostage here, you hear me?"  
"I—"

"No. You are going to do this no matter what."

Riley opened her mouth to speak again, but slowly closed it when she saw the expression that Niall held. There wasn't any excuse that could prevent her from going on. She had to do this for her friends and for the people of Ferelden. She had a duty to protect them and she was beginning to think that it was okay to let them down. Shaking her head she rid herself from all of the negative thoughts that clouded her mind.

"Alright. One more and then I can rest easy," Riley nodded her head as she looked to Niall in confirmation, "I will make it out of here if it's the last thing I do."  
After stating her mind she made her way over to the pedestal and was teleported onto the island in the center of them all. Riley could feel sweet relief washing over her as she realized that her companions were all there waiting for her. She smiled at them all as she realized that they were all okay.

Her relief was short lived when she realized that they weren't there alone. The sloth demon that had trapped them there was waiting for them at the other side of the island that they all stood on. Riley nodded to her companions as she led them in the direction of the demon that she had been waiting to encounter this whole time.

Riley stepped up to the demon with no fear in her features and spoke strongly, "I am going to take you down for everything that you've done to me and my friends here today."  
"Why don't we all just go back to sleep for a while? That'll make things so much easier," the sloth demon slowly pleaded not wanting to have to go to the trouble of fighting a battle that wasn't necessary.

"No. Today is the day that you die once and for all."

"Then so be it."


	20. Ch 20 :: You're a Hero to Me

_**You're a Hero to Me**_

Everyone in the group began to grow weary after the sloth demon had regenerated itself for the fourth time. The demon had taken on different forms of an ogre, a rage demon, an abomination, and a shade with each one becoming stronger than the last. The misfit fighting group of three mages and one warrior was beginning to show that they were becoming exhausted as their movements were starting to slow down. The sloth demon however wasn't slowing down but in fact was quickening its pace.

They were able to take down the sloth demon one last time before it morphed into an arcane horror. Riley found herself standing at a distance when the demon commenced its attack. Alistair immediately began charging the demon with Wynne casting a protective barrier to protect him. With Alistair being the only warrior in their group he faced taking the most damage out of everyone. Morrigan and Riley used the opening given to them when Alistair knocked the demon back and threw fireballs in its direction.

The arcane horror roared in pain when the fireballs clashed with its torso singing the clothing that covered its chest. Sloth turned towards the girls and began to charge at them, but Alistair quickly shut the demon down with a bash of his shield. The demon collapsed on his side and let out another howl of pain. Alistair used his blade and thrusted it through the demons leg ultimately pinning it to the ground.

"Let's freeze this bastard, now!" Riley shouted as she conjured up her strongest ice spell to freeze the demon into place. Morrigan and Wynne followed suit as they knew that they had finally taken the demon down.

The arcane horror peeled itself off the ground to everyone's disappointment, but this form appeared to be different than the others. Sloth had transformed into his original form which to Riley, it appeared that the demon had run out of forms to use and was beginning to grow tired as well. She smiled at the thought and began launching attack after attack on the demon. Wynne and Morrigan were slightly shocked to see the excitement coming from their fellow mage but they quickly followed along.

Within moments the sloth demon began to slow its movements down. They were able to easily pinpoint the demons attacks and were able to avoid them altogether. Riley began closing in on the demon with balls of light that continuously knocked the sloth demon back. Morrigan followed as she used her shapeshifter skills and morphed into an oversized spider. She ran towards the sloth demon and dug her fangs into the sloth demons side paralyzing it.

Riley stepped up to the demon holding her staff above his head, "you will never capture another, ever again."  
With that, Riley shot off another fireball blasting the demon's head to bits. Overcome with exhaustion Riley dropped to the floor and drew in a deep breath in an attempt to compose herself. She could feel something washing over her mind that was filling her with relief. She glanced around and saw that her friends had the same expressions on their faces that she could feel on her own. Riley knew that she was finally getting to go back to the real world when she became wrapped in a white light. In the distance she saw Niall standing by himself as his lips were moving. She was only able to make out a few words which were 'you made it out.'

Riley went to call out to the mage she had befriended in the fade but her words were halted by his sudden change in appearance. He became a glowing figure of his old self as a bright yellow light encased him. Her mouth was left agape as she watched him slowly approach her. Once Riley realized that it was still her friend Niall relief overcame her features that rested on a warm smile. She reached out a hand to grasp the hand of the spirit that Niall had become.

"The Litany of Adralla will help you defeat Uldred who is now controlling the tower," Niall's voice became ethereal as he floated above the ground with his hand wrapped firmly around Riley's, "it will prevent him from destroying the tower and mages any further than he already has."  
"I take it that you'll be staying behind then, Niall?" Riley smiled at the spirit realizing that his time was up in this world and that he was moving on into the next life.

"I will. I just hope that I've done enough to help those enslaved to the blood magic. I am no hero to the circle, and perhaps trying to be one has made me the way that I am now."

"That's not true Niall. I will always remember you as a hero trying to save the circle from monsters trying to rid them of the only place that many have called home for so long."

Riley could make out a faint smile on Niall's face as she watched him slowly move away from her, "I supposed that it is time to part ways now. I wish you luck on saving the circle, Riley."

The white light surrounding Riley encased her entirely as she waved to her friend that she will never forget. Once the light completely covered her she was met with a darkness that she had recalled seeing the last time she had left the fade.

"Riley?" a familiar voice called out, "Riley? Are you there? Riley, please wake up!"  
"Yes, yes. I'm awake," Riley groaned as she rubbed her eyes trying to rid herself of the tiredness that sealed them shut, "what is it?"  
"Thank the maker you're alright," Alistair breathed out, "I was beginning to worry that you weren't going to make it out of there okay. You didn't wake around the same time that the three of us did."  
"I'm alright," Riley softly smiled at the ex-templar relieved to see his face stricken with worry, "I was simply saying my goodbyes to a good friend of mine. There's no need to worry about me anymore."  
Riley rested her hand on Alistair's shoulder before standing up. She evaluated the room and was sad to see the number of mages who attempted to put an end to the wrongdoings of misguided mages were stopped when they reached the sloth demon. She shook the thoughts from her head that it was her fault for taking too long in the fade. Her eyes landed on the body of a familiar mage. The Litany of Adralla was poking out of the pocket of his mage robes as Riley made her way to grab it.

She could see that the look on Niall's face seemed to be at peace, and she was glad that her friend had happily moved on knowing that there was a possibility of the circle tower being saved. Riley was unsure of her capability to save the tower after having experienced all that she had in the fade. In her heart she knew that she had to do this for her friend regardless of how exhausted she was at the moment.

"Riley?" Alistair questioned as he watched her make her way over to him with tears welling up in her eyes.

"We need to save the tower, guys," Riley choked out, "because I really need a nap right now after everything that happened to me in the fade today."

The three looked at one another before they all turned to Riley nodding their heads in unison. Alistair was the first one to fully stand up to meet Riley by her side. He placed his arm around her and pulled her close to him to let her know that she wasn't alone. Thinking of asking her to explain what happened was pushed from his mind as he determined that it wasn't a good time to ask something like that.

Wynne gave Riley a pat on the shoulder as the group made their way to the final door that led to the top of the tower where Irving waited for them. However, Riley never would have guessed who was going to be waiting on the other side of the door for her. He was someone that she had grown to care for and he the same. There was a bond between the two of them that would eventually leave, but never to be forgotten.

The door slowly creaked open to reveal the templar that Riley had grown to care for dearly during her time in the tower. Cullen kneeled in a cage of light cast over with a pink and purple hue. He was rocking back and forth with his hands clasped in front of his face which blocked out any view that he would have of the room before him.

"Cullen? Is that really you?" Riley whispered as she crouched down to reach the templar's height, "what happened to you?"

"Maker, make this stop. I will not be tempted any longer with the thing that I desire most but cannot have. A mage of all things, how could I have ever fallen for a mage. Enraptured by her beauty, perhaps? I've no idea any longer, and all I wish for is an end to this torturous life that I have to life from now until the end of my days.," Cullen pleaded as he kept his eyes glued to the ground not wanting to bear the sight of the woman that he had grown to love.

"Cullen I— I knew that you had grown to care for me, but I had never realized how strong your feelings had been…"

Cullen glanced up to see why this version of Riley had changed so much compared to the others. His eyes locked with Riley's with confusion written in his features, "but— I've yet to… Where did you come up with that clothing? I've yet to see this version of torture before."

"I'm real, Cullen. I am here with my companions and we're here to save the circle tower from everything that it's been through."

"I say let it burn," Morrigan scoffed in the background earning a glare from everyone in the party which silenced her with a frown on her face.  
"Like it even matters anymore. The bloody tower is captured by blood mages and demons. There is no point in saving anyone anymore."

"That isn't true, Cullen. If First Enchanter Irving is alive and well then Gregior will believe that the tower is safe and will not call for the Right of Annulment."

"Bloody kill them all! They're either possessed or are going to turn over eventually one day. There's no point in fighting that any longer, and you know that I am right, Riley. You've yet to fall prey to the whisperings of the demons and you can save yourself still."

"Is that so?" Riley asked with her arms crossed anger slowly beginning to boil in her veins, "then should I execute you as well out of fear that you could currently be under a demon's spell right now?"  
"Riley— you have to listen to me…"

"I don't want to hear it, Cullen. I will not listen to you any longer for I would much rather spare a maleficarum than kill an innocent. You will stay where you are until we are able to defeat Uldred, and I don't want to hear another word of killing everyone in the tower from you again. Do I make myself clear?"

Cullen looked distraught for a moment before anger completely took over him, "so be it! I will inform Gregior of your decision and it will be your undoing! Maker forgive me for ever fancying a mage."  
"I can't believe it either, that I had even for a moment entertained the idea of falling for a templar like yourself whose whole life surrounds executing mages for the fun of it," Riley glared daggers into the templar who backed up a bit, "if you think that you can best me then you are sorely mistaken, Cullen."

Riley stormed up the staircase not wanting to hear another word from the templar who was obviously not in the right state of mind at the moment. She knew that her words were harsh and she instantly regretted every word she had said to him. Her heart was screaming at her to turn around and apologize for everything that she had said in hopes of him forgiving her, but her mind knew that there was no turning back now. She spoke her mind and she made it very clear what she intended to do in this situation. The only one she was worried about was Alistair.

Her mind clouded with the thought of him growing to hate her for what she had said about templars. Out of the corner of her eye she peeked down at the templar following her up the stairs to see that he wasn't affected by what she had said, from what she could tell at least. She shook the thoughts from her mind knowing that she had to complete the mission that she started here once and for all.

Uldred was going to be sorry that he ever decided to mess with her home.


	21. Ch 21 :: Too Much Pride

_**Too Much Pride**_

"Uldred!" Riley shouted as she entered the room distracting the blood mage from the ritual he was performing on a mage of the circle tower.

"My, my, Irving. It appears that we have guests here today who seemed to have made it past my pet," Uldred smirked at his reference to the sloth demon that they had just escaped from, "whatever could it be that you've decided to pay me, old Uldred, a visit this evening?"  
"We're here to put a stop to your antics, Uldred. You will not enslave these mages any longer."

"Oh, but why would you ask something like that of me? I'm sure you will understand it quite well, Riley. I have felt a weight lift from my shoulders after taking over this tower only to watch it crumble once we're finished with it."  
"I don't care what your reason for doing this might be, but you have involved innocent mages who wanted no part of this in the first place."  
"I know who you are, Riley. I know that you hated your time here in the circle tower. The only reason that you weren't made tranquil was because of your father's role in providing this tower with funds that it wouldn't be able to live without," Uldred cackled at the look of surprise that overcame Riley's face, "oh, you didn't know? Any other mage that has managed to escape this tower has been immediately executed or made tranquil. I'm surprised by your reaction to say the least."

"I— I had no idea that, that…" Riley was at a loss of words as she tried to gather a reasonable comeback to Uldred's remarks about her family.

"Come now, child. Doesn't this aggravate you? Don't you wish to watch this place burn with those who ridiculed you for what you are? You were born powerful and the people here wish to just lock all of this power away! We could start an uprising of the mages, and we could one day free ourselves from the chantry and be free just as the mages are in Tevinter!"

"No," Riley's fists clenched at her side to the point of drawing blood that trickled down her fingers and pooled on the floor, "I will listen to you no longer! I had friends in this tower, friends that you've butchered and I will hear no more!"

With Riley's final words she unleashed a barrage of fireballs from the head of her staff in Uldred's direction. He was able to evade most of the attacks thrown at him, but the fire still singed the robes that he wore. He cursed under his breath knowing that this wasn't going to be an easy fight against three mages and a bloody templar to say the least. Uldred knew that there was going to be only one way out of the situation he put himself in.

Uldred lifted a barrier, shielding himself from any attacks thrown at him while he prepared a ritual. He was allowing a demon into his body in order to save his own skin. Riley and her comrades began attacking Uldred's lackeys who were attempting to use their blood magic to transform the surviving mages into abominations to increase their numbers. For a moment Riley wasn't sure what she was to do, but then she remembered the Litany of Adralla that she had obtained from her friend.

Riley pulled out the Litany and began chanting the words it contained. In an instant the blood mages fell to the ground with their powers bound. She grinned when she realized that it had worked and began helping the mages in danger to safety. Riley knew that there wasn't going to be a way to get to Uldred through the barrier he put up and that they were going to have to wait for an opening to attack. Irving had collapsed from the exhaustion of having to keep his mind guarded from the foul thoughts that Uldred had tried to pour into his mind. Alistair quickly pulled the First Enchanter off to the side out of harm's way before readying himself to attack Uldred.

With a bellowing laugh Uldred began to morph into a new form that Riley had seen before. She watched as his legs grew three times in height and size as well as his arms that drug on the ground until he reached his full height. His skin became a dark shade of purple as his head grew larger and larger until his face was no longer recognizable. The whites of his eyes became clouded in a deep black as multiple eyes began sprouting out all across his forehead. Riley trembled as she recognized the demon that stood before her. Uldred had become a demon of pride in an instant and she knew that this wasn't going to be an easily won battle.

"Stand back everyone!" Riley shouted as she let the distance between herself and Uldred grow, "this type of demon attacks up close and at a distance! Lighting is the main attack type that you can expect from this beast!"

Everyone in the party followed suit just in time to avoid the lightning whip that Uldred had unleashed. Uldred's comrades were executed as the lighting grazed over them, electrocuting them instantly. The lightning singed the ground that it had hovered over and clashed with the wall, shattering the stone brick. The wall began to crumble to pieces as a hole gaped open revealing the storm that was raging outside. The floor became drenched as the wind forced the rain into the tower. A grin overcame the pride demons face as he knew that he was going to win this battle with water to conduct his electricity through.

Riley's mind became clouded with thoughts on what to do about the situation that she was in. She had her friends and the mages of this tower to protect at this moment, and she damned herself for thinking she could do it all alone. She knew that she was going to have to sacrifice herself in order to protect those she cared for if the rest were to make it out alive in this fight. When Riley was about to step forward to use herself as a human shield against the attack, she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Wynne smiled down to her as she moved to stand between the demon and her comrades. With a nod of her head she clapped her hands with her staff in the center and she drove her staff into the ground and formed a barrier separating themselves from the demon.

"Attack the demon, now!" Wynne shouted with all of her being as she struggled to hold her staff in place when the demon began attacking the barrier she had formed, "his attacks cannot reach us from this side, but yours will reach him!"

Morrigan and Riley nodded to one another, firing attack after attack on the demon. Uldred began to slow his movements as his mana slowly began to run dry. Riley noticed that his right side was open.

"Alistair! He's weakened on his right side," Riley shouted to the templar who stood there unsure of what to do as he wasn't trained at long distance fighting, "I will shield you from his attacks, but you'll need to act quick!"

Alistair nodded his head as he charged the barrier that Wynne had made. She opened her barrier for him to step through. A white light encased the templar as he charged the demons right side. Fear ran through his bones as he watched the demon launch lightning attacks at him left and right, but not a single attack landed on him. A smile overcame his face when he realized that he was safe to attack this demon so long as it didn't land a physical blow on him.

He dodged the demon's arm that swung to knock him into the nearby wall, and made his way to the demons right side. He drew his blade as far back as he could and plunged it into the demons ribcage. Uldred howled in pain as blood seeped from the wound that Alistair caused. Alistair dropped his shield and placed both hands on the hilt of his sword and pulled the blade down, tearing the demon's side to shreds. He quickly withdrew his blade and ran for cover once he realized that the demon was going to attack him again. Screams of pain echoed through the tower walls as Uldred collapsed to the ground in a pool of his own blood. Slowly Uldred began to morph back into his human self as the demon withdrew from his body in time to save its own life.

Wynne dropped her barrier as Riley made her way to ensure that Uldred had in fact been finished once and for all. When she approached the man she could see his eyes clouded over almost as if he was at peace with what he had done to the tower. Riley cursed under her breath and kicked the man one last time out of spite. Once she realized that the fighting was done she turned to her friends with relief washing throughout her. Her knees gave way as she landed on the floor with a smile on her face. They were able to take the demon down without losing anyone.

"Irving!" Wynne gasped as she rushed to the first enchanter's side, "Irving! Are you alright?"

"I will be alright, Wynne," Irving croaked as he attempted to pull himself off the ground, "what of the other mages in the tower? Are they alright?"

"Many didn't make it out alive, I'm afraid."  
"What a tragedy that has befallen the circle. Though I am glad to see that so many have managed to make it through this horror that has overcome us all."  
"I'm relieved to see you're well, Irving," Riley nodded in Irving's direction.

"As am I, child. As am I," Irving warmly smiled, "what of Gregior? I'm sure he's sent for the Right of Annulment at this point."  
"Yes, but he agreed to halt it if he were to see you alive, Irving," Wynne smiled from ear to ear, "the circle is saved because of you."

"No," Irving shook his head side to side in denial, "it is because of all of you that the tower is saved. Without your assistance I would've eventually caved and become an abomination in Uldred's army of demons."  
Wynne opened her mouth to protest, but was quickly silenced when she watched Irving make his way over to the other mages who had collapsed out of fear. He shook them awake and assisted them in finding their ground when they pulled themselves together enough to stand. The rest of the group helped as well, and they began making their way for the staircase. This was going to be the longest set of stairs that they've ever journeyed on.


	22. Ch 22 :: Some Secrets to Share

_**Some Secrets To Share**_

Once the group had made their way down the tower, they finally came across the room in which they had met Wynne in. Petra stood there with both shock and relief written on her face as she embraced Wynne in a tight hug. The mages all shared their hoorays as they realized that their lives were no longer in danger. Riley smiled at the moment of joy her fellow circle mages were sharing and decided to just sit it out. She nodded to Irving and they began heading in the direction of the door in which they would have to prove to Gregior that they were all safe.

Irving knew exactly what to say to Gregior to ensure that he would open the door for them, and was relieved when he saw his old friends face. The two smiled at one another with relief clouding their eyes. Once Riley was sure that all of the mages were safe and out of the room she was able to finally let herself relax. Cullen had been on edge the whole way down the tower and she was worried that he was going to try something on the mages.

To her surprise however, Cullen had stayed silent the whole way down. He was saving his energy to attempt to persuade Gregior to execute the mages within the tower. Cullen's eyes locked with Riley's as he was speaking to Gregior when he halted his words. He became unsure of what he was saying and began to second guess himself. For a moment, Cullen appeared to be changing his mind on the matter, but he shook those thoughts from him mind instantly. He was persistent at getting what he wanted to the point of Gregior actually considering what he had to say.

Gregior looked to Irving who simply nodded his head knowing that his fate lied in the templar's hands at this point. Irving believed himself to be alright, as well as the other mages under his watch, but he knew that he had no say in the matter. The two pondered what to do in this situation, and Riley knew that her word would have little power here after how she left this tower. Gregior shook his head and determined that the mages were safe which earned a stern glare from Cullen that was directed at every non-templar in the room.

With that, Riley was able to recruit a handful of mages to assist in saving Connor. She smiled at the work she had done, and that they were only a day behind schedule than the three that she had originally thought they were. The group made their way out of the tower to the dock where Carroll was waiting patiently for orders on what to do next. He assisted them on getting back to shore and they were met by the rest of their party members who were patiently waiting for them to return from the tower.

Jaegan and Yevvan quickly ran up to Riley and knocked her to the ground in a tight hug. Though, Yevvan's hug were kisses all over her face which drenched her hair in slobber. All the while she was laughing with Jaegan who was receiving the same treatment from the mabari pup. Once she was able to get herself off the ground after the attack they made their way back where Leliana and Sten had set up camp for the night. Riley was quick to reach her tent to undress herself so that she could wash the demon's blood off of her armor that would more than likely leave a stain.

Riley was able to find a nearby creek where she could rinse off her armor as well as her face. She hadn't realized it yet but there was blood all across her face from the demons in the circle tower she had taken down. She was filled with surprise thinking about the fact that Jaegan wasn't affected by the blood he saw on her at all. Once she shook the thoughts from her mind she began scrubbing her armor with a nearby leaf that looked sufficient enough to scrape away the caked on blood.

A twig snapped behind Riley as she whipped around with a fireball in hand. She relaxed when she realized that it was just Alistair coming to do the same with his armor that appeared to be in worse condition than her own. A smile spread on her face as she began to relax with the ex-templar being near her. Alistair returned her smile as he crouched down next to her to begin washing his armor. The two remained there in silence with the sound of the water being the only thing they could hear.

"I've got a question, Alistair, if you'll answer it," Riley stated without looking up from her armor.

"What might that question be?" Alistair froze for a second as he was almost positive he knew the question that she was going to ask.

"Do you know who your father is?"

Alistair opened his mouth to respond but was unsure of how to answer her question. He knew that she would bring it up eventually after what she saw in the fade. It wasn't the time that he wanted to tell her about his bloodline, but he knew now that there was no turning back from this.

"Yes, I do. I've only ever seen portraits of him, but I was never allowed to actually meet my father as I was an illegitimate child," Alistair sighed as his hands slowly stopped scrubbing his armor, "I'm a royal bastard, what can I say?"  
"Why did you keep this from me? Couldn't you trust me?" Riley asked looking to Alistair with pain clearly in her eyes.

"It has nothing— I just— look… Riley, it's not that I didn't trust you with this information. It's more like I just didn't want to tell you at all," Alistair responded calmly, but then became panicked as Riley hadn't cheered up at all, "no, no, no, no! That's not what I meant! Alright, I just didn't want to tell you because every time that someone has found out about who my father is they begin treating me differently. I become a prince to them, and I am no longer Alistair."  
"I guess I can understand that," Riley signed as she set her armor off to the side, "I suppose that I don't always tell people that I'm a mage because I know how a vast majority of them would react if they knew."

"You're not mad with me are you?" Alistair asked leaning forward in an attempt to get a look at the mage.

"I'm not mad, I would say," Riley looked over to the ex-templar with a soft smile on her face, "just a little upset it all. I understand your reasoning but it still hurts to feel that you can't trust me completely."  
"I do trust you! I just didn't want you to think of me differently and begin treating me like a prince and not the Grey Warden that I've become."

Riley was silent as she reached to grab the trousers that Alistair had placed on the ground next to him. She began washing off the blood that was caked in on one of the legs. She smiled to Alistair to let him know that she wasn't going to let this newfound information get in between the friendship that they were beginning to develop. Alistair returned her smile as he continued washing his breastplate armor.

Once Riley finished washing his trousers she held them out in front of Alistair with her head bowed down, "here you are, your majesty," she grinned from ear to ear knowing full well that this would irritate him.

"Why you—" Alistair began but was stopped when his face was suddenly splashed with water.

Riley began laughing to the point where her sides were beginning to hurt. She clutched her sides looking at the man's face that was in utter confusion. Suddenly, Alistair dipped his breastplate in the creek and launched the water in Riley's direction. Riley held up her hand forming a barrier to block the water that was heading her direction.

"Hey! That's not fair," Alistair pouted with his arms crossed.

"You snooze, you lose," Riley grinned as she readied her hand to splash Alistair some more.

The two began splashing one another multiple times with carefree smiles on their faces. Riley walked into the creek with her hands dipped in so she could get Alistair soaked. She pulled her hands out of the water as fast as she could and drenched the templar. The two of them ended up knee deep in the creek and were laughing the whole time. Alistair closed the distance between the two of them so that he could get her soaked. He was smiling the whole way until his foot caught on something at the bottom of the creek and began falling forward.

Riley was unsure of what to do and before she knew it she was sitting in the creek with Alistair hovering over her. His face was mere inches away from hers. Riley looked over his face noticing features about him that she hadn't seen before. She could see the little freckles that danced across his cheeks. His eyes that appeared to be a chocolate brown before revealed a hint of green in the center. Riley's cheeks began to redden as she comprehended the situation they were in. His leg rested in between hers as her hands were behind her back bracing her from submerging in the creek entirely.

Alistair became flustered and pulled himself off of her instantly. He cleared his throat in an attempt to be rid of the inappropriate thoughts that were running through his mind. Once he was able to compose himself he reached a hand down for Riley to take, and he hoisted her up off of the creek bed. A shy grin made its way onto his face as his free hand rubbed the back of his neck.

"I—I'm terribly sorry about that," Alistair was barely able to speak, "it was totally an accident, and I didn't mean for us to end up in that position."

"You've got gorgeous eyes, Alistair," Riley smiled at the templar, completely awestruck.

His cheeks turned a tomato red as he locked eyes with Riley, "I—I… well, thank you for saying that."  
"There's something about them that—ugh, I just can't put my finger on it. Something that I can see in your eyes that just makes me feel vulnerable. I think that's the word I'm looking for."  
"You're not toying with me are you?"

"Not at all. I just find your eyes to be very… alluring."

"Alluring?"  
The two looked over one another for a moment trying to figure each other out. The two knew that there was something going on between them, but neither could determine exactly what it was that they were feeling. They smiled at one another accepting that they weren't going to be able to figure it out at this time, but they were leaving with the knowledge that their relationship could possibly turn into something greater if they had wished it to do so.

The two gathered their clothing sitting on the creekside and began heading back in the direction of the camp. They kept small talk the whole walk back trying to figure out what they were going to say to their friends about their situation. Riley and Alistair were both drenched and they knew that gossip was going to spread through the camp like wildfire. They simply shrugged it off and made their way to the campfire to hang their clothes to dry. The two both made their way to their separate tents, waving to one another without acknowledging the others who watched them the entire way into the camp.

Riley quickly used a spell to dry the clothes that she was wearing as she stepped into the tent where Yevvan and Jaegan were quietly reading a book they had picked up in the tower. She ruffled Jaegan's hair before she plopped down on her bedroll. The smile she was wearing had butterflies fluttering through her stomach as she thought back on the fun that she has just experienced. The feelings she had towards Alistair were unlike any other that she had before, and she couldn't push the thought from her mind of wanting to explore him more.

Alistair was quietly undressing himself in his tent that was only feet away from Rileys. He began recalling what had happened in the creek when he had ended up on top of her. His mind went wild as he remembered that the white tunic that she was wearing was completely see through the instant water splashed on it. Heat rushed to his cheeks as he tried to push the image of her breasts that he could clearly make out through the thin cloth that stuck to them. How the tunic displayed how round and perky they were in the chilling water.

He quickly took his shirt off that had rested on his shoulders while his mind went wild with desire and tore open his bedroll. Alistair quickly grabbed the pillow that rested behind him as he sat down and shoved his face in it. He wanted so badly to rid his mind of the thoughts that drowned him, but what he had seen had sent him over the edge. The innocent look that she had on her face when he had fallen on top of her was driving him insane.


	23. Ch 23 :: Fear What Shouldn’t Be

_**Fear What Shouldn't Be**_

For what seemed to be the longest hour of his life, Alistair was finally able to drop all of the worry that had been running through his mind. He watched as Riley's eyes cracked open, adjusting to the light that washed over her. Alistair dropped to his knees out of relief and held onto the edge of the bed that Riley had been on. Her breath steadied as she noticed that she was no longer in the fade face to face with the desire demon who was holding Connor's mind captive. She felt warmth wrapped around her hand as a smile spread across her face at the thought of someone worrying about her.

She was able to finally open her eyes entirely without the light blinding her and she saw the crowd of people that had surrounded her. Once she was able to pick out familiar faces in the crowd she smiled at the one who had been holding her hand. Jaegan had fallen asleep at her side with his hands tightly wrapped around her own. She shook the boy enough to stir his sleep when a huge smile overcame his features. He instantly wrapped his arms around Riley and she laughed as she hugged him back.

"How is Connor? My son, is he alright?" Isolde immediate intruded in the happy moment that the two were sharing.

"Your son is fine, ma'am," Riley smiled at the worried mother who instantly became relieved, "he's well and unpossessed. I'm sure he's confused about everything at the moment and will need to see a familiar face when he wakes."

Isolde nodded her head in gratitude as she ran for the stairway that lead to Connor's room that was on the next floor. Guards followed suit to ensure that the worried mother was going to be alright in case Connor hadn't been truly saved from the whisperings of the demons. She smiled as she looked to the ex-templar who had his head rested on the edge of the bed that she was sitting on. She reached for him and brushed the side of his face with her fingers. He instantly turned his head to look at her and smiled when his eyes met hers.

"I'm glad that you're alright," Alistair breathed out as his eyes softened, "I was worried that you weren't going to make it out with how you thrashed around from time to time."

"Thank you for worrying about me so much, Alistair," Riley smiled to the templar before turning to look at the rest of her friends who looked relieved to see her alive and well, "and thank you all for watching over me, as well. I appreciate that you guys were here in case things went south."  
Morrigan simply shrugged off the thanks though she knew that deep down inside she had grown worried for the woman she had slowly begun to care for. Leliana smiled in return knowing that Riley was going to pull out of the mess just fine. Wynne reacted just the same as Leliana knowing that if Riley had been able to survive the harrowing and the mess had to be cleaned up in the circle tower then she knew that Riley was going to make it out alive. Sten, however, wasn't pleased to see this much magic exist in one room. He was a firm believer that those with magic should live on a tight leash with no control over their powers whatsoever. Surprise is the only word that he could use to describe how he was feeling in regards to Riley coming out of the fade unscathed.

Once Riley felt that all of her strength had returned to her she swung her legs off the side of the bed. Her hand rested on the edge of the bed to support her weight while she recuperated herself. The shaking feeling that knocked her knees together slowly began to subside the longer she stood. Eventually she was able to fully stand without support of the bed. Riley nodded to her companions as she began to make her way in the direction that led to her old friend, Jowan. She winded through the hallways that led to the dungeons until she came to the caste iron door that led to her destination. She smiled to herself as she slowly pushed the door open.

After turning the corner she could hear her friend singing a song that she had remembered learning with him back in the circle tower as children. Riley turned to face her friends to ask them to wait in the other room for her. Her companions looked to one another unsure if they were okay with her being in a room alone with a blood mage. Riley assured them that she was going to be alright, and was finally able to have a moment with her childhood friend.

Riley began to hum along with the song that Jowan was singing as she made her way over to his cell. He instantly stopped singing when he heard her approaching, but once he had realized who it was he continued on with the song. The two of them sang in harmony and ended their song with smiles on their faces.

"I remember when we first discovered that song in your favorite novel," Jowan sighed as he looked to the ceiling that had been dripping water into the corner of his cell since he had been put in there, "watching you sing your heart out has become one of my fondest memories during my childhood. I will never forget the smile on your face that made me grow to care for you as if you were my own sister."

"Though I was always the one doing the protecting," Riley snickered as she dropped to the ground crossing her legs, "you were always getting into some sort of trouble but I was always able to get you out of whatever you had started."

"Do you think that your word will have any sway in what they decide to do with me finally?"

"Jowan… I"

"No, don't. I don't deserve your pity, Riley. You have been a dear friend to me for all this time, and now I need to answer for my actions once and for all. I need to go in head on and make sure that I die with dignity if that is to be my fate."  
"Jowan, I'm so sorry. If I had been there for you more then maybe…"  
"This happening was nothing that you could have prevented. There was no saving me from my fate of becoming a blood mage, or attempting to escape the circle tower in the name of love. You have always been there for me and I will always cherish the memories that we have shared with one another, Riley. I love you as if you were my own sister."

"I love you too, Jowan."  
Riley held her arms through the dungeon bars and wrapped them around the blood mage who was on the verge of tears. The thought of dying terrified him and knowing that he would be leaving a life that he had yet to fully live behind sent him over the edge. His cries echoed through the dungeon walls as he let out all of the fear that was lying dormant within him all of these years. He knew that one day he would eventually become a powerful mage that would make a difference in the world, but now he wouldn't get to see what that man would become.

She tried her best to keep her composure but the thought of losing her one and only friend crossed her mind and she lost it. The tears that stung her eyes washed down her face as she embraced her friend. Her throat tightened making it impossible to breathe when she finally lost all strength in her knees that held her upright. Riley slid down onto the floor with her arms still placed around her friend. Her cries slowly began to subside when a thought crossed her mind.

"Jowan," Riley stopped and looked to Jowan with the her eyes puffy and red with the tears staining her cheeks, "what if I let you go? We could pretend that you used your blood magic to escape and you'll be free again."  
"Riley, I…" Jowan began but was abruptly stopped when Riley looked him dead in the eye with determination.

"I don't want to watch you die, Jowan. I want to know that you'll become a strong mage one day and live a full and happy life. I want to know that you'll be okay."

Jowan contemplated the thought of being free again, but if he had wanted to escape he could have done it long ago. He had full capability to break out of his cell with the basic magic he could perform that he had learned in the tower. He knew how to escape but the thought of being on the run for the rest of his life didn't sound like a life that he had wanted to live. He simply shook his head and turned away from his friend who he was sad to see in this state.

"I can't do that, Riley. I would be on the run for the rest of my life, and I don't think that I would have it in me to do so."

"You were willing to do that with Lily! What's changed?"  
"I'm tired, Riley. I've learned many things in my time away from the tower and a good friend of mine taught me to face my demons head on without fear of the heart. I will be alright, Riley."  
Riley grabbed onto the cell bars shouting at her friend over and over again to rethink her offer. She became heartbroken as she watched her friend seclude himself in the corner of his cell. Her cries caused her companions to enter the dungeon out of concern. Alistair pried Riley off of the cell bars as she thrashed around in protest. Isolde entered the dungeon with her guards in tow. Irving wasn't far behind as they entered the dungeon cell.

Once they were in front of Jowan's cell they began to discuss what their plan was to do with the rogue mage. Irving had opted for making the mage tranquil and sending him back to the tower to live out the rest of his life, but Isolde protested. She wanted vengeance for the pain and suffering that he had caused her her husband, child, and subjects. She was not going to hear another word from the First-Enchanter as she demanded that her guards take the mage to the courtyard and have him executed at once.

Riley shouted in protest but was quickly held back by Alistair. He quickly held onto her arms as she began to fight his grip when the guardsmen dragged Jowan from his cell in an inhumane matter. She thrashed around in an attempt to free herself from the ex-templars grip, but to no avail she was powerless under him. She screamed and cried the whole time Jowan was in the dungeons, and once her friend was gone she dropped to the ground with heart heart broken.

She was washed over with guilt and remorse as she knew what they were going to do with her friend. Riley knew deep inside that Jowan had it coming for him, but she never thought that it would end in this matter. Her heart was shattered and she felt as if she were powerless and anything could break her at the moment. It wasn't until she heard the echoes of birds flying away that she let out a scream of true heartbreak that pained those who were around her.

From this day forward, Riley swore to herself that she would never allow herself to care for another as she had for Jowan. She closed her heart off in that moment to opening herself up to another out of fear for her heart of the pain that she may face one day if she were to lose them.


	24. Ch 24 :: Silence is A Wonderful Sound

_**Silence is a Wonderful Sound**_

The camp drew quiet as the night cast its shadow over the hills and the campfire became the only shining light in the dark. Alistair had become a stone statue sitting next to the fire without moving an inch. His mind raced with thoughts of what had happened in Redcliffe castle. He was the one who held Riley back from saving her dearest friend and he was the one who put her in this state. To his surprise she had still agreed to help Isolde in finding a cure for Arl Eamon's illness caused by her fellow mage. He watched Riley from a distance as she sat near a creek tossing rocks into the water.

Jaegan and Yevvan had attempted to sit with her and help her cope with everything that had just happened. However, Riley quietly asked them to let her have some space and they obliged unwillingly. The boy and his mabari began making their way away from Riley with sad expressions on their faces. They were going to head to bed when they were stopped by Wynne who had noticed their failed attempt to cheer Riley up. She placed a hand on Jaegan's shoulder and led him to the front of her tent.

"What is wrong, child?" Wynne softly asked the boy who appeared to be holding back some tears that were threatening to fall.

"I just wanted to cheer her up you know," the boy sniffled, "I know what it's like to lose someone close to you, and I was able to get happier by talking with someone you care about just as much."  
"Riley not wishing to talk to anyone right now doesn't mean that she had stopped caring for you, Jaegan. She is simply trying to figure out how to cope with the loss she is experiencing right now."

Jaegan nodded his head understanding where she was coming from, but he still wished that there was something that he could do to make her feel better somehow. He sighed as he took a seat on the matt that sat in front of Wynne's tent as he drew shapes in the dirt to pass the time. Wynne smiled as she stepped into her tent to grab something that she knew would be able to cheer the boy up.

"How about I read one of my favorite adventure novels to you?" Wynne smiled at the change in expression from the young boy, "it was one of my favorites to read to the children when I resided in the Circle Tower. I'm sure Riley had heard this tale many times growing up."  
"That would be nice," Jaegan smiled as he rubbed the last tears from his eyes as he scooted closer to Wynne to get a closer look at the book.

The two began reading the novel together taking turns on who was going to read the next chapter. They began to bond over the character in the book who did everything they could to keep their friends happy along with the people of the nation they were trying to protect. Jaegan couldn't help but smile thinking about how the character in the book closely resembled a certain mage he had grown to think of as a motherly figure in his life.

* * *

Alistair felt his heart tighten and constrain as he watched Riley break down for the third time since they had gone back to camp. He had had enough watching her feel this way and he decided that it was time for him to approach her.

He slowly made his way to Riley's side and sat down on the ground next to her. Riley had her head rested on her knees as she was trying to choke back the cries that wouldn't stop coming. Alistair lifted a hand to rest it on her shoulder but paused a moment when he noticed that she had stopped crying all of a sudden.

"Riley— if you want to talk about it, just know that I'm here for you," Alistair warmly smiled as he watched the mage wipe her eyes with her sleeve, "you were there for me when Duncan passed, and I understand if talking isn't what you wish to do."

"Why," Riley choked out, "why didn't you let me go? Why didn't you let me save my friend?"  
Alistair opened his mouth to respond, but halted his words when he looked at the broken expression that Riley wore on her face, "I know that he was your friend, Riley, but I—I really don't know why. I know that this isn't the answer that you're probably searching for, but..."

Riley drew quiet as she rested her chin on her knees looking out at the water that turned into a lake. She went over every scenario in her head that could have led to her friend still being alive, and each one ended with her death. She couldn't put together a situation where her and her dearest friend would end up surviving in the same world. She let out a deep sigh as she knew that Alistair was right, and she was happy to have a friend like him to look out for her well-being.

Tiredness slowly began to take over Riley as she leaned on Alistair's shoulder that was close to her. Quickly she realized what she was doing and made an effort to pull herself together as she shook her head to rid the tiredness from her mind. She sighed as she placed her chin on her knees with her arms wrapped around her legs. She held on tight for fear of losing control of her emotions again. She didn't want people to see her like this, and it was breaking her heart that she felt she couldn't explain to Jaegan why she felt the way she did.

Guilt rose in her throat and stung like bile. She sniffled one last time before pushing herself off the ground and brushed the dirt that clung to her clothes off. She looked down to Alistair with a soft smile on her face unsure of what exactly to say to him. Her mind couldn't process how to tell him that she was no longer upset with him, but his actions still hurt her and she was unsure of how long it was going to take to completely forgive what he had done.

"You don't need to speak," Alistair sighed with a light smile as genuine concern washed over his face, "I understand if you don't wish to see me. If another had done the same to me and I could have saved Duncan, I don't think I could forgive the person who had done that to me."

Riley opened her mouth to speak, but she was overcome with emotion and she broke down in tears again. She couldn't hold her legs steady any longer and collapsed to the ground. Her cries were silent but broken. The tears streamed down her face and pooled on her pants that were already soaked from the crying she had done previously. Her heart had completely shattered at the thought that she could have saved her friend from death.

She grew startled when she felt arms wrap around her and draw her close. For a moment she considered pushing him away, but his touch comforted her. Alistair was trying his best to comfort the woman he had broken and he was worried that she wasn't going to be able to continue with the mission. He held her tightly until he felt her sobs slowly begin to subside. His hand reached for her cheek as he tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. To his surprise the mage had fallen asleep.

He could feel a smile slowly making its way onto his face, and he decided that he should take the mage to her tent before the others questioned what was going on. He scooped Riley up into his arms and headed in the direction of her tent. Jaegan and Yevvan began making their way in Alistair's direction when they realized that Riley had fallen asleep. They all made their way into the tent as Alistair quietly set her down on her bedroll. He pulled her blanket up and over and smiled as he began to make his way out of the tent.

Alistair waved to Jaegan before leaving the tent, and once he was out he sighed in relief. He knew that it was going to take time to earn her trust back, but at least he knew that she was doing a little bit better now. With that, Alistair made his way for his tent to try and get some shut eye before their journey to Denerim in search of Brother Genitivi.


	25. Ch 25 :: Death in Denerim

_**Death in Denerim**_

Riley and her comrades all made their way through the main gates of Denerim and were soon bombarded by men and women alike trying to sell them their merchandise. They turned down each one with another following suit in an attempt to get them to purchase their wares. They all began to grow tired with the constant pushing to the point where they all began to ignore their requests and pushed on.

Brother Genitivi was the reason that they were there and they weren't about to let irritating merchants get in their way. Once they were out of the horde of merchants they all stood before the house explained to them by Isolde as Brother Genitivi's house. They grew surprised at the lack of lights shining through the windows of the house. It had grown dark outside but it was far from a usual hour that people would begin heading to bed. Riley brought a hand up to knock on the door and was shocked to watch the door swing wide open at her touch. Her comrades all looked to her to make a decision. Riley nodded her head as she heightened her defenses and made her way into the house.

"Hello?" Riley shouted into the empty room, "Brother Genitivi? We're here on behalf of Isolde, wife of Arl Eamon."

Silence overcame them all as they moved further inside. Riley noticed that there was a light coming from underneath one of the doors that lead to a separate room. Alistair nodded to Riley as he made his way to the door ready to fight whatever might be on the other side. Riley readied a fireball in her hand as Alistair kicked the door down. To their surprise there was a man standing over a counter humming a tune to himself while chopping some vegetables.

The man screamed in shock and ended up cutting his hand with the knife that clattered on the floor. Riley quickly ran to the man's side to evaluate his wound but before she could help, he quickly pulled his hand away from her grasp. She raised an eyebrow at the man's actions, but shrugged it off since they had technically broken an entry into this man's house.

"Who are you lot? And what are you doing in this house?" the man shouted as anger slowly began to rise within him.

"We're here to see Brother Genitivi," Riley smiled at him, "we've heard word that he knows the location of the Urn of Sacred Ashes."  
"Brother Genitivi?" the man asked, "he's been gone for nearly a month now. I'm his apprentice, Weylon."  
"Gone? Where has he gone to?"

"He left in search of the Urn of Sacred ashes and had asked me to stay behind and watch over the house."  
"Would you mind showing us some of his research? We are in a hurry to discover this Urn for the Arl's life is in danger if we do not get there in time."  
"No! I— I mean…"  
"What's going on?"  
Weylon's eyes darted back and forth from each person in the room to the exit. He cursed under his breath before pulling a staff out from underneath the kitchen table and began launching lightning spells at everyone in the room. He quickly maneuvered through the kitchen around the tables and over crates that he should have tripped over. Riley began to grow worried that they were going to be unable to put a stop to this man. It wasn't until Alistair had stepped forward that they were able to get him to stop attacking. Alistair had pinned 'Weylon' to the ground and was struggling to keep him still.

"Now I want you to tell me what's really going on here," Riley got down to the man's level, "and I can't help but think that your name isn't Weylon now is it?"

"You will never reach the Urn! Andraste is reborn and will live again!" the man shouted before slipping out of Alistair's grasp as he made his way to the other side of the room, "I die today for my people!"

The man quickly reached for a blade strapped to his waist and drew it out in front of him. His eyes grew wide in terror as he thrusted the blade into his own chest. Blood dripped from the man's wound as he crumpled to the ground in a heap. The sound of his body hitting the ground played on repeat in Riley's mind as she attempted to comprehend what had just happened. She was in shock about what they had just witnessed and was unsure of how to handle the situation. Riley had never seen a man kill himself willingly before to escape death done by another.

Alistair looked back and forth between the man who had killed himself to his comrades who appeared to be in just as much shock as he had been. There was no way of them knowing that this was the mess that they were going to walk into when the went in search of Brother Genitivi. He shook his head at the loss of life that was unnecessary and it didn't sit well with him. Alistair pulled himself together knowing that someone was going to have to make the first move after what they had just witnessed.

He made his way over to the man and made sure that he had in fact passed on. He held a blade up to the mans mouth to see if was still breathing, but unfortunately there was no fog on the blade indicating that he had moved on. Alistair shook his head knowing that he could have prevented this if he had held onto the man a little bit tighter. At that point, there was nothing that they could do to at this point to help the man. They decided that they needed to find and answer to the whereabouts of Brother Genitivi.

Riley was the one to stumble across the room in which the real Weylon was dead in a body bag. His corpse indicated that he had been dead for a few days time and left to rot. She assumed that the imposter was hoping that he would be left alone here or that visitors would stray away once they had learned that Brother Genitivi was out. They had run into him at a bad time and he was unable to formulate a plan to drive them out. She shook her head feeling sorry for Genitivi's assistant who had lost his life helping assist a man who he had only wanted to help.

She pulled herself off the ground and investigated some more. She looked through every novel and piece of paper that was on the nightstand next to the bed she assumed to be Genitivi's and was able to find a parchment that appeared to be a map showing the location of the Urn of Sacred Ashes. Riley grinned from ear to ear as she made her way out of the room to tell her comrades of her discovery and that they were going to be able to move on with the mission.

Once they had determined where they were going to head next, they all came to the decision of staying in a inn for the night instead of setting up camp. The sun was beginning to set and they were all exhausted after two days of traveling to reach Denerim. The group made their way out of Genitivi's house and headed in the direction of the nearest Inn.

They stopped in the entryway of the Inn and were met with glares from patrons who were chatting with one another. Silence overcame the Inn when they entered for the fact that they didn't appear to fit in with the crowds that typically gathered in this place. Riley and her comrades simply shrugged it off and made their way to the front counter. They asked for their rooms and made their payments for the night. Riley decided to share a room with Jaegan and Yevvan as they didn't have enough rooms to give to each one of them.

Wynne and Leliana decided to share a room as they didn't want to spend the money on separate rooms when they came with two beds anyways. Morrigan insisted that she have her own while Sten and Alistair shared a room. Riley grinned when they walked into the room to find that they bath had already been drawn and was calling her name. She was excited to take a bath and clean herself until Jaegan decided to hop into the tub fully clothed. He grinned and laughed the whole time as Yevvan made his way to join in.

Riley stood in shock as she watched Yevvan and Jaegan ruin perfectly good bathing water. She shook her head not understanding the mentality of boys and decided that she would remove her armor to make herself more comfortable. Once she entered the bedroom she was thankful that there was a screen for her to change behind so that she would have some privacy. Quickly she removed her armor and changed into a tunic and loose fitted trousers. Her arms stretched high above her head as she stepped out from behind the screen.

Jaegan had drug Yevvan away from the bath and into the bedroom. The two stood there with grins on their faces as the water dripping off of them created a huge puddle on the wood floors. Riley shook her head as she grabbed a towel that was sitting on a dresser on the wall opposite of one of the beds. She made her way over to Jaegan and began drying him off while he was laughing at the towel tickling his ears.

"You both are such troublemakers," Riley smiled at Jaegan as she stopped her attempt at trying to dry the boys hair with her hands resting on his cheeks, "what was so desirable about ruining a perfectly good bath?"  
"I thought it'd be fun, and that it might cheer you up," Jaegan turned his gaze to the ground where he was unsure of whether or not he was in trouble.

Riley opened her mouth to speak, but the words she was looking for didn't want to come out. She sighed as she pulled Jaegan into a tight hug. The boy grew confused at the sudden show of affection from her after everything that had happened. He was unsure of what to do as he could feel happiness rising within him. His arms soon wrapped around Riley as they embraced one another with smiles on their faces.

She knew that it was going to be a while until she would become fully recovered from the loss of her friend, but she didn't want to risk losing those she had grown to care for. Riley shook the thought from her head that she would never love another because she had already broken that vow. She had grown to love Jaegan as if he were her own son, and there was no turning back from the commitment that she had put herself in.

To her she was grateful that she had met Jaegan that day in the forest. Without him, she would have never been able to recover from the loss of her friend, Jowan. There would have been no turning back for her and she was glad to have someone to keep her grounded. With that, she led Jaegan to the screen so that he could change into dry clothes as she wrapped a towel around Yevvan to dry his fur off. They were going to have some upset maids who were going to have to clean up after the mess her boys made.


	26. Ch 26 :: Desirable Dancing

_**Desirable Dancing**_

Riley tossed and turned in her sleep unable to shake the feelings that crawled within her and infected her mind. The images of darkspawn tearing her limb from limb raced through her mind as beads of sweat began to collect on her forehead. She couldn't rid her mind of the terrors that were keeping her awake. Her hand wiped away the sweat collecting on her forehead as she watched an archdemon fly above her. She shot up in bed and quickly made her way out of her room.

She grabbed the nearest blanket before making her way out of the inn and wrapped herself in it. Chills ran through her spine as she maneuvered through the main room of the tavern where drunk nobles and escorts became friends. Her eyes darted around the room avoiding all eye contact possible before she finally came across the main entrance. She sighed with relief as she pushed the door open to be swept up by the chilling air of the night.

Her eyes slowly closed as she drew in a deep breath of fresh air. Immediately she grew defensive when she heard a man chuckle next to her. She readied herself for attack when she had realized that it was just Alistair who had been the one laughing at her. Her shoulders relaxed as she leaned up against the building next to him. He watched as the mage drew closer all the while holding his breath.

"Bad dreams?" Alistair warmly smiled when he realized that she had just been rudely awakened.

"Of course," Riley sighed as she tucked her face into the blanket even further than she already had been, "darkspawn were attacking the camp and I was being torn apart by them. I woke up when a dragon flew over."

"Sounds like our dreams were fairly similar."  
"Do these… dreams, ever come to fruition or are they just a warning of what might come to be?"  
"I've never encountered a dream that I've had and I pray to the Maker that I never will. I have yet to forget a single dream that I have had since joining the Wardens."

"I hope so as well. I couldn't imagine what I would do if a situation like this were to happen."

"Want to walk around to ease your mind? This appears to have really shaken you up."  
"That'd be nice. I could really use a break from the mess that we've been dragged into."

Riley smiled up to the templar who wore a warm gaze. She could feel a slight blush rising to her cheeks as she pondered what exactly he might have planned for the night. Once she put the blanket back inside the Inn she made her way to Alistair's side as they headed out into the town. They walked side by side through Denerim watching the different sorts of people that were venturing out as well. There were rich and poor alike laughing with one another and enjoying the atmosphere that the stars above brought.

The two browsed the wares that the merchants were selling in the center of the town. Swords, garments, jewelry, and many other trinkets adorned the shelves glistening underneath the lanterns that hung from the canopy above. Riley held a necklace up to her neck for Alistair to see with a grin on her face waiting for his approval.

"It's very becoming of you," Alistair smiled at the mage as a light blush danced across his face, "are you considering getting it?"  
"I've never had nice things before, and I thought that having something pretty would be fun to have," Riley smiled as she brought the necklace down to gaze at it in her hands.

Alistair pulled out his coin purse without a second thought and handed a few silvers to the merchant. The merchant grinned as he watched the look of shock overcome Riley's face. He dug through a bin that sat behind the counter before handing Alistair a black velvet bag to place the necklace in. He nodded to the merchant before turning to hand the bag over to Riley.

"What was that for?" Riley asked with her brow furrowed in frustration, "I was planning on buying it myself."

Alistair smiled down at her before gently taking the necklace from her hand to place in the bag, "you should let others take care of you for a change. A single person can't take on the world alone and stay sane."  
"What are—"  
"It's hard to lose someone, but it gets harder to handle when you don't let others in to help you heal."  
Alistair placed the necklace in Riley's hand before reaching to grasp onto her other hand. He smiled down to her and tugged her along. Riley was at a loss for words at the actions of the man that was leading her to their next destination. She opened her mouth to protest but she was silenced by the butterflies that began fluttering about her stomach.

There was a building with music escaping through the cracks in the windows that Alistair was heading in the direction of. Riley tilted her head wondering what might be inside, and she realized that Alistair was leading them into that building. Suddenly fear traveled through her as she pulled Alistair to a stop with her hand still wrapped around his.

"What are you doing?" Riley shouted in a whisper as she pulled the templar off to the side out of the other patrons way.

"We're going to go in there," Alistair plainly stated.

"We have no idea what might be going on in there, Alistair. What if there's people in there wanting to kill us for who we are?"  
"Do I look like a Grey Warden to you right now?"  
"Well— no, but!"

"No buts, we're going in there."  
With no time to protest, Alistair dragged her along and made his way for the entrance. He used one hand to push the door open and they were soon met with the smell of roasted veal and mead. The two looked to one another as their stomachs began to rumble. They exchanged a laugh together before heading to a vacant table towards the back of the dining hall. Riley was in awe at the music being performed. She had never heard anything so fast paced in her life. The melody of the instruments rang through her ears which earned a smile from Alistair as he watched the mage dance in her seat.

A waiter immediately came up and offered them their specials which were their house mead that was the public's favorite and roasted veal. Riley had never had alcohol in her life and was a little scared to try it, but before she could say anything Alistair had already put the order in. He ordered two pints of the house brew and two plates of the veal that they were cooking in back. The waiter had disappeared as quickly as he had shown up.

"This should be interesting," Riley mumbled under her breath.

"Why's that?" he asked not thinking anything of what he had done.

"I've never had mead before!" Riley whispered to him across the table, "what if I don't like it or what if I can't even walk straight after drinking it or what if—"  
"You'll be fine," he chuckled, "mead is the weakest of them all, and I'm sure that since it's a house brew it won't be as strong as you're thinking it's going to be."

Riley opened her mouth to protest, but the waiter had shown up with their drinks and food. Alistair handed the man some coin with a tip included. The waiter grinned from ear to ear before making his way to another table.

The two began eating the veal that was laid out before them. Riley moaned after taking her first bite. The meat was perfectly cooked as it was juicy all the way through and it wasn't tough whatsoever. She looked to Alistair who she had assumed was wearing the same expression as herself. They both enjoyed the food so much that they had eaten every morsel that was brought out to them.

"That was amazing," Riley sighed as she leaned back in her chair.

"Agreed," Alistair sighed as he turned to watch the commotion that had begun in the open area of the dining hall.

There were couples twirling on the floor to the beat of the music. Alistair grinned from ear to ear when he realized that they were performing his favorite dance growing up. He jumped out of his seat to stand before Riley as he held his hand out and bowed his head before looking up to the woman with a grin on his face.

"May I have this dance?" he smiled to the mage who was in utter shock.

"I've no idea how to—" Riley began to protest, but was immediately silenced when Alistair pulled her out of her chair and onto the dance floor.

Riley awkwardly clung on to Alistair as if her life had depended on it. The templar was able to easily follow along with everyone else while Riley had no idea what she was doing. She gripped onto Alistair tighter than before and made an effort to look less awkward than she already had.

Alistair quickly moved his face near Riley's ear and whispered, "you need to relax more. Just go with it."

Riley's cheeks instantly became inflamed as she could feel the man's breath brushing her cheek. She turned her face away from Alistair to avoid all eye contact possible with the man. While looking away from him she realized that the dance was only repeating the same three steps with the occasional twirl involved. She began to move her feet in line with everyone else that was dancing. When she had finally got the hang of it she turned to look at Alistair with the biggest grin on her face.

Alistair couldn't contain the emotions he was feeling any longer. His smile broadened as he laughed along with the mage who he had come to realize was a huge goofball. The two quickened their pace to match the beat of the music. They were lost in their own world with their eyes locked on one another. The music was getting close to the finale and Alistair began twirling the mage around and around until the music was finished. He lifted Riley in the air for a moment before dipping her close to the ground.

Riley's clung her arms around Alistiars neck as she grasped for air. She was exhilarated as she locked eyes with the templar. Everyone surrounding them chanted them on wanting to see them kiss. Alistair's cheeks grew red as he looked to the mage for an answer to the crowds cheers. She smiled before gently closing her eyes giving the man the hint he was looking for.

The two slowly closed the distance between one another as their lips locked. Cheers from the crowd roared through the hall as they seperated with smiles on their faces. Alistair pulled Riley up to stand before the two bowed to the people in the room. They hadn't believed that their dance had been that great, but they weren't going to turn down the attention that they had received.

It was then that their waiter brought them two more pints of the mead he had served them earlier, "let's give it to the amazing couple!"

The cheers roared even louder as people clinked their drinks together in celebration. Alistair and Riley raised their glasses in victory before making their way back to their table. They laughed the whole time as men and women alike cheered them on their whole way. Once they had seated themselves they looked to one another with smiles on their faces.

"That was amazing, Alistair," Riley said before gulping down the pint from before that she hadn't had a chance to touch, "I believe that this is probably one of the best nights of my life."  
"I'm glad that I was able to be apart of it," Alistair grinned at the mage who he had grown to genuinely care for more so than any other person he had met in his life.

Once the two had finished their drinks they decided that it was finally time for them to head back to the Inn before another long journey that they would have to face the following day. Riley couldn't contain the grin that wouldn't go away as she walked next to Alistair who was feeling the same.

They stood only feet away from the entrance to the Inn before coming to a stop. Riley turned to the templar with a soft smile on her face. She knew that her feelings for the templar were there and knew that she was going to have to bring them up. Her mouth opened to speak but she was soon silenced by the loving gaze that she was receiving from Alistair.

"You are by far the most beautiful woman I have ever encountered," he smiled as he tucked a stray curl behind Riley's ear, "tonight you have made me the happiest man alive."  
She was at a loss of words as she stared up at Alistair, "I—I don't know what to say. Alistair, I—"  
Riley's words were soon silenced as Alistair pulled her close for another kiss. His lips were warm against Riley's as she returned the favor. She had never felt anything like this before and she was loving it. She could feel the heat radiating from his skin as he placed his hand behind her neck to deepen the kiss. Her mind went blank as she found herself lost in him.

Alistair was the one to break the kiss as he looked down to Riley whose eyes were glazed over. A smile spread across his face as he tightened his hand around hers. He slowly opened the door to the tavern as he led the mage to her room. Before making his way to his room he softly kissed Riley's forehead before letting go of her hand.

Riley stood in the hall for what felt like an eternity as she watched the man who stole her heart disappear into his room. She was finally able to breath as she heard his door click shut. Quickly she made her way into her room as she leaned up against the door. She slid down the door as she placed her hand on her lips remembering the tender kiss she had received from Alistair.

She hadn't realized that she was going to lose her first kiss that night when she set out with the templar. Thinking back on it made her wonder why she had waited so long to finally experience something like this.

Alistair was thinking the same thing as he quietly laid down in his bed not wanting to disturb the qunari who was sound asleep. A smile spread on his face when he remembered how soft her lips had been when he kissed her the second time.


	27. Ch 27 :: The Secret is Out

_**The Secret is Out**_

Riley awoke the next morning with the sun shining in on her face through the curtains that drifted in from the light breeze. She pulled herself upright in her bed as she stretched her arms high above her head. Her shoulders popped earning a sigh of relief from the mage. Ease washed over her body as she made her way to change into her armor. Once she had reached the chair she had placed her armor in she stood shocked at what she saw.

The velvet bag she had sworn was only a dream rested neatly on top of her armor. She screamed internally as she remembered every event that had happened the night before. Alistair and her had shared a kiss and she had no idea how she was going to speak to him again. She began pacing in the room trying to come up with a way to approach the man after what they had done. Every scenario passed through her mind and she gave up and sat on the edge of her bed with her head resting in her hands.

"What am I going to do?" she groaned which woke Yevvan up from his sleep, "how am I going to make things seem normal now?"

"Make what seem normal?" a small voice asked from the bed next to hers.

Riley nearly jumped out of her own skin not expecting Jaegan to be awake yet. Her eyes darted across the room in an attempt to think of something to say to the boy. He was smart and he would be able to pick up a lie right away so she knew that she had to make her excuse good.

She opened her mouth to speak but was soon silenced by the sound of their bedroom door being opened. Leliana casually walked inside with a coy grin on her face as she made her way over to Riley. She was humming a tune as she reached for the bag that was in Riley's grasp. Her hand tightened around the bag not wanting her to see what was inside. Leliana's grin grew wider as she watched a look of confusion take over her features.

Her eyebrow raised as she watched the mage back herself against the wall not wishing to be bothered. She quickly closed in on the mage as she eyed the bag that rested in the woman's hand. Her smile grew larger the closer she got to Riley until finally she had enough and needed an answer on the question that was burning in her mind.

"So… you and Alistair?" the rogue grinned as she crossed her arms, "I would have never entertained the thought."

"W—what are you talking about?" Riley nervously laughed as she made an effort to escape the woman's gaze, "I don't understand what you mean."  
"Don't try and hide it dear. I saw how you two danced together. You made it seem as though you have loved one another for eternities the way you looked at each other."

"Leliana!"

"Is it true?" Jaegan asked with the smile on his face quickly growing, "are you and Alistair together now?"

"It's nothing like that—"

"What's all the commotion in here?" a grumbly voice asked as the door to the bedroom quietly creaked open to reveal a sleepy templar.

"Alistair! Tell them what happened!"  
"Tell them about what?"  
"I saw the two of you last night you little lovebirds. I was only curious as to what the present you bought her had looked like," Leliana cooed as she slipped out the door preventing Alistair from coming up with a response.

The man looked to Riley with confusion written on his face. He looked around the room for a hint as to what the rogue was talking about when his eyes landed on one particular item. The velvet bag that held the necklace that he had thought was just a dream told him that what they had done the night before was real. Shock took over his features as his eyes darted back and forth from Riley's confused expression to the bag.

"Are you saying?" Alistair stopped himself.

"I'm afraid so, Alistair," Riley sighed as she moved over to her armor to open the bag that held the necklace that she had loved the night before, "it wasn't just a dream."  
"Do you mean to tell me that last night was a mistake in your eyes?"  
"No! I would never—what I'm trying to say is…"  
Riley peered down at the necklace reminiscing on the wonderful time that she had shared with the man standing only feet away from her. She couldn't put words to what she was feeling inside thought she knew that they weren't negative. Her mouth opened and closed as she tried to piece together something to say to the man who was quickly growing more and more concerned as the silent seconds dragged on.

She quickly tugged on Alistair's arm to pull him out of Jaegan's earshot. She feared that he would be judgemental on her decision to break it off with Alistair for the time being. Her mind raced with what she was to say to the templar without making him feel that the attention he gave her was unwanted. Riley loved the idea of being able to love another and have her only concern in the world be their wellbeing.

However, becoming a Grey Warden may change what she has to do with her life, and she knows that Alistair would not go against the word of the wardens. She shook her head as she closed the door to the bedroom to prevent Jaegan from hearing their discussion. With sad eyes she looked up to the man who wore a look of confusion as he attempted to comprehend the situation they were in.

"I had a wonderful time, Alistair," Riley softly smiled, "I—I just don't know if I am quite ready for this kind of relationship yet."

Alistair was at a loss for words as he looked to the mage who avoided eye contact with him soon after she spoke. He could feel his heart tighten and constrain as he looked for the right emotion to feel in the moment. Happiness rose within him at the thought that someday she might grow to care for him. However, he also feared the thought of Riley never treating him the same way again. He sighed as he realized that there was no reason to force himself on a woman who wasn't ready to start something with him.

"Just let me know if you're ever feeling down again and I will always be there for you," Alistair gently smiled as he rested a hand on the mages shoulder, "I don't want to see you sad ever again, you hear me?"  
Riley opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by the warm gaze from the man she knew she had fallen for, "I promise that I will always come to you, Alistair."

Once Alistair was sure that things were okay between them he made his way to exit her room. Relief washed over his body as he was finally able to relieve the tension that was building inside of him while he tried to consolidate Riley. He was glad to know that she was feeling better than she had before and to him that was all that mattered.

"So, Riley, are you going to tell me what just happened there, or am I going to be left wondering what's going on?" Jaegan questioned as he drew his gaze away from the door where Alistair had left to the mage who stood staring at the door.

"I believe that last night was one of the most wonderful times of my life, Jaegan," Riley smiled as she looked back down at the necklace, "I know for a fact that this is what it feels like to fall in love."  
Jaegan began laughing as he started jumping on the bed chanting, "Riley's got a boyfriend! Riley's got a boyfriend! Riley's got a boyfriend!"

"I do not!"

Riley chased Jaegan around the room in an attempt to put a stop to his childish antics. Jaegan darted back and forth from his bed to the other all the while taunting the mage. He laughed the whole time as he watched Riley begin to laugh along with him. Riley was the happiest she had ever been since leaving the circle tower and she was glad to have friends like everyone she had met along her journey.


	28. Ch 28 :: The Urn of Sacred Ashes

So sorry everyone that have been dedicated readers of my Fan Fiction. Some family matters came up and I lost track of this story. I will be trying my best now to update the story more frequently than I was. Again, I am so sorry!

* * *

 _ **The Urn of Sacred Ashes**_

Riley drew in a deep breath as she stared in shock at what had lain out before her. The bodies of the people of the chantry lie dead with their blood on her hands. She hadn't wanted to resort to violence, but they had been the ones to initiate what they had finished. Her mind filled with thoughts of how she was going to burn after what she had done until she heard a familiar voice grumbling next to her.

"By the Maker! These people wouldn't know Andraste unless she hit them in the face!" Alistair shouted as he cleaned his blade with a nearby cloth before placing it in its sheath, "I mean come on people!"  
Alistiars remarks eased her mind as she felt laughter coming over her at the irritation that was clear on the templar's face. She covered her mouth with her hand to muffle the laugh that slipped it's way through. He turned to face her with a stern glare on his face knowing full well that she was laughing at him. Alistair shrugged his shouldn't choosing not to pick a fight this early in the morning and made his way to evaluate the room.

Riley was finally able to pull herself together as she made her way around the room in search of any clues that could lead them to the location of Brother Genitivi. She was about to lose hope in finding him when she heard a muffled cry from behind one of the bookshelves. One of the books appeared the be crafted out of a solid block of wood as she peered over each one. Delicately she pulled on the book and was surprised to watch the bookshelf slide to the right to reveal Brother Genitivi in a darkened room.

Her excitement on the magical door quickly subsided when she saw the condition that Brother Genitivi was in. His leg appeared to be sprained or broken with the position that he had it resting in. Riley quickly rushed to his side and shook his shoulder in an attempt to see if he was still conscious. When she saw his eyes squint open she signed with relief as she inspected the wound that Brother Genitivi had faced.

"Thank the Maker that you arrived," the man panted through short breaths, "I didn't believe that I was ever going to see the light of day again."  
"Is your injury serious?" Riley asked as she inspected the man's leg that had slightly bruised on his right calf.

"It is just a sprain but it has prevented me from being able to maneuver through the town with the entire village after me. I was eventually caught and brought here to be one of their sacrifices I believe I heard them say."

"Sacrifice? What in the Maker's name would they sacrifice you for?" Alistair chimed in as shock overcame his features.

"They worship a dragon in which they believe that Andraste's soul has been reborn into. I don't believe that it is possible to convince these townsfolk any different."

Riley contemplated what she had just learned from the injured man as she searched her pouch for a healing balm that she had bought in the last town the stopped in. She gently applied the balm to the man's wound and was relieved to see that he appeared to be in less pain than he had before. After pulling herself off the ground she made an effort to pull the man onto his feet. When she realized that she was not strong enough to pull him up Alistair and Sten quickly placed their arms under the man and hoisted him up.

"Thank you all," the man panted as he wiped his brow with a folded cloth that he pulled from his breast pocket, "I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't arrived here."  
"It was no trouble at all, though we hadn't expected to see you here," Riley paused looking for the right words to say in the moment when Morrigan chimed in to fill the silence.

"We believed you to be dead," she grumbled as her arms found their usual place crossed in front of her chest.

Riley opened her mouth to scold the woman but she decided to let it go and began assisting Brother Genitivi to his feet. When he flinched as soon as he put weight on his ankle she quickly set him back down. She moved her way to the man's foot and made sure she was gentle as she pulled his sock down to reveal a deep purple bruise surrounding his ankle.

"By the maker… what happened?" Riley asked looking to the man in complete disbelief, "how has your foot not fallen off yet?"

"When they were dragging me up here by my arms one of the guards had lost their grip and I went tumbling down the mountain. They did nothing to treat the injury and I have been laying here for Maker knows how long," the man breathed out as he tried to overcome the pain that was taking control of his body.

"Wynne, I never learned any healing magics before I left the tower. Do you know of any spells that we can use to prevent him from losing his foot?"  
"Let me see what I can do," the old woman smiled as Riley made room for her to work her magic.

Her hand caressed the man's ankle as a soft glow enveloped the two. A slight sweat began to gather at her brow as she did everything in her power to heal the man the best she could. Once she had drained majority of her magic she lifted her hand to see that the bruising had lessened significantly. She was unable to heal his ankle to its full strength, but she was able to lessen the pain to make walking bearable.

Alistair helped the man back up on his feet and walked with him for a short distance to be sure that he wouldn't collapse and risk injuring himself again. With a smile Alistair turned back to face the group and nodded in Riley's direction in thanks for healing Brother Genitivi.

Once the group were able to get their plan together after gathering some more information from Brother Genitivi, the group decided to pursue the Urn of Sacred Ashes despite the risk that was being put on their lives. There were more of these cultists and they all would likely have their guard up due to what had happened at their chantry.

"Is everyone ready to piss off a bunch of religious fanatics?" Riley snickered as she began making the trek up the hill in the direction of the temple in which the rumored Urn of Sacred Ashes lie.

Alistair and Morrigan both chucked at Riley's enthusiasm to take down a group of people who had been living such sheltered lives outside of the normal world. Though Leliana didn't support this idea that these people had she still felt pity on them for not truly understanding the Maker's love. She shook her head as the group began following Riley up the hill. There was going to be no turning back now as they heard warning cries off in the distance as they drew closer to the temple.


End file.
